Transforming airline uniforms into meaningful, sustainable products.
Upcycling is playing an increasingly important role across fashion, travel, and hospitality, offering a smarter way to reduce waste while extending the life of valuable materials. As featured in Condé Nast Traveller, forward-thinking brands such as British Airways and Bags of Ethics (Supreme Creations) are demonstrating how discarded materials can be transformed into meaningful new products.
Through this collaboration, surplus British Airways uniforms have been reimagined as practical travel accessories designed for everyday use. More than 16,000 retired uniforms have been repurposed into items including luggage tags, picnic blankets, and other travel essentials, showcasing how intentional design can turn waste into something both useful and long-lasting.
Each product is made at an 80% women-led manufacturing facility in Pondicherry, India, where skilled teams carefully dismantle garments to maximise fabric reuse. This considered approach supports local employment, promotes craftsmanship, and significantly reduces environmental impact throughout the production process.
The project demonstrates how well-known global brands can take meaningful steps towards circularity. By rethinking what happens to unused materials, British Airways and Bags of Ethics are helping to set a more sustainable and responsible path for the future of travel.
Learn more about this circularity project HERE.
Read the Condé Nast Traveller feature HERE.