‘Vlisco Recycled Carpets’ builds on extensive material research Simone Post initiated into the leftover textiles of Vlisco, a Dutch-based textile manufacturer of high-end wax-printed fabrics mainly exported to Africa. The process of designing and producing these fabrics is complicated. In each of the 27 treatments the wax fabric goes through, things can go wrong. Safeguarding their quality standard, Vlisco cannot bring the misprints to market. Only the best of the best goes to Africa.

Simone Post has developed a line of high-quality carpets using Vlisco’s rejects. Whereas destruction of the leftover and rejected textiles is time consuming and a waste of all the energy that went into creating the cloth, recycling is environmentally sustainable and also offers a challenging platform for innovation. The ‘waste’ is made in the Netherlands and the carpets are produced locally in Post’s own studio in the Netherlands as well, keeping the transport impact very low.

Inspired by the side view of the large rolls used to store and transport the textiles, the fabrics are cut into thin strips and then folded and coiled into sturdy carpets. With endless possible colour combinations, a unique product is created each and every time.