Manchester-based fashion designer Jess O'Riley has launched a unique clothing line made from abandoned festival tents, turning waste into wearable art. Her eco-friendly creations are set to be showcased on the catwalk at Manchester Fashion Week next month.
From Festival Fields to Fashion Studio
Jess, 25, from Manchester, collects old camping gear left behind by festival-goers and transforms it into jackets, tops, trousers, and bumbags. She started her brand J.O.Studio after graduating from the Manchester Fashion Institute in 2024 with a First Class degree in Fashion Design.
“I wanted to have a mission behind my fashion creations and using a material which was scalable. I started salvaging tents after festivals and was just so surprised what people throw away,” she said. “They must spend hundreds of pounds on brand new tents and then just leave them in the field. It is quite depressing salvaging them because you just think they’d end up in landfill but the magic really starts when I get them into the studio.”
Labour of Love
Jess collected around 40 tents from the Kendall Calling Festival in Cumbria last weekend, which she will turn into clothes. She works with six local machinists to create her designs. “It’s pretty labour intensive collecting the tents and then washing them and seeing what we’ve got. I’ve got around six local machinists who work on the designs and the results are amazing and unique,” she added.
Around 250,000 tents are left behind at events every year, with most ending up in landfill. Jess says collecting the tents costs nothing and expects to salvage hundreds more after the Leeds Festival later this month.
Unique Products and Prices
Her company also makes tent duffel bags from leftover ground sheets, priced at £90. One of her most popular items is a trendy vest featuring tent toggles as buttons, selling for £195. Other items include tent tote bags for £20, recycled patchwork t-shirts for £20, and guy rope keyrings for £8.
Jess says one of the challenges is making items that bear little resemblance to their original purpose. “Some of the jackets don't look like they’re made from a tent because I turn them inside out, quilt it and really elevate the material. My favourite part of the process is changing the way these bags and clothes are viewed by using design to make them exciting and different,” she explained.
Standing Against Fast Fashion
Jess admits that businesses like hers face pressure from large firms like Shein and Temu. “During salvage missions I have seen Shein clothes still in their wrapping with the tags on, they are just so cheap people buy them and ditch them without wearing them. I want to create something which is special and thoughtfully made and has a mission of sustainability behind them,” she said.
“I always say that I would prefer to go out of business because people no longer leave tents behind after festivals. Making these items is not about making money as much as using the material to make something sustainable and cool to wear.”
