Kresse Wesling: Up-cycling Waste

Alejandro Litovsky

June 24, 2010

The high-end fashion company Elvis & Kresse (E&K) caught the attention of fashion enthusiasts and environmentalists alike when it successfully launched its line of fashion accessories produced from decommissioned fire hoses. By “upcycling” these into high-end fashion accessories, E&K has so far kept over 80 tonnes of waste out of landfills.

In this interview, Colin Ma, an intern with the Pathways to Scale program who is completing his MBA at the London Business School, talks to Kresse Wesling, co-founder of E&K, about her thinking on innovation and business models.

Kresse is one of many innovator creating new business models for a Biosphere Economy. But E&K is not just about running a ‘green business’, it is ambitiously demonstrating how the fashion industry can be re-aligned with the environment and help address the acute (and often invisible) issue of waste.

Colin: How was the idea of turning industrial waste into fashion products conceived?

Kresse: My first real passion is waste, and specifically the ways to eliminate it. When we first started experimenting with reclaimed fire hoses, we were looking for any viable business solution that would effectively address the waste problem. We first thought about making roof tiles but soon realized that this business model would require too many fire hoses.

We then commissioned 3 or 4 pieces of furniture but our initial pieces were too expensive to manufacture. One day, my partner’s belt broke and he used some of the hose to create a new strap, extending the life of a favourite buckle. And coincidentally on that same day, we were signed up to produce 500 belts for the London Life Earth concert! From belts, we moved on to bags, and after some success, we soon realised that fashion would be the best solution for the hose.

Colin: What have you learned from your experience in trying to sell ‘green’ products in the fashion or luxury-goods space?

Kresse: First of all, we learned that there is a very small margin of error in fashion. If it isn’t well made it won’t sell. If it isn’t a good product, no matter how green it is, it just won’t sell. Our environmental ethics are the foundation of the business, reclaiming waste is our reason for being, but this foundation doesn’t dilute our focus on producing practical, genuine, and honest pieces with incredible quality. When the quality is right, and the product sells, we can help our customers make a positive connection between our products and the environment. The hope is that consumers will appreciate this connection enough to demand environmental innovatio

n in more and more of the products and services they consume.

Colin: What is the impact that you want to create?

Kresse: Ultimately, we want to keep as many fire hoses and as much industrial waste out of landfills as possible. For example, we would like to continue reaching out to fire brigades across the UK and in the longer term, we would like to expand into continental Europe and North America.Additionally, we donate 50% of our profits to charities that are committed to reducing waste; and another 50% of our profits from the fire-hose line are donated to the Fire Fighters Charity. Our secondary impact is therefore to increase our donations and help our charity partners deliver their programs.

Colin: And how are you planning to scale up what you have been doing?

Kresse: It is an interesting time for us right now. We are currently a wholly-owned, debt-free business but in order to scale effectively, we may have to get additional capital from either banks or investors.

The challenge is not necessarily finding the capital, we are fortunate to have a business model that has a very obvious commercial angle. The challenge is finding either the right capital or capital from the right people. We want partners who will help the business grow without sacrificing the mission. Compromising our identity for the sake of achieving growth is simply not an option. In fact, the more we grow the more waste we will be able to reclaim; growth, for us, should mean that we actually get better at achieving our core objective, reclaiming waste.