Elvis and Kresse: From Firehouse to Farmhouse

In this episode, part of our monthly brand feature series, we learn about Elvis and Kresse, a UK-based company that began by reusing firehoses to create amazing accessories to now owning and managing a permaculture farm in Kent and rethinking circularity.

Joshua Williams: Hello, Sass. Welcome back. Who are we featuring this month? 

Sass Brown: We're featuring Elvis and Kresse. 

Joshua Williams: Ah, the duo out of the UK who started with a very specific fabrication. Can you tell us a little bit about that? 

Sass Brown: They did indeed. They started with decommissioned fire hoses, so very particular resource that of course, much like military equipment gets decommissioned quite quickly, because you're talking about health and safety here. So you don't want to a fire hose with a hole in it or a worn patch, so they get decommissioned quite quickly and there's very hard-wearing resource material. They make a whole line of accessories; bags, everything from little small wallets, all the way up to a great big weekend bags and totes out of these seamed together, decommissioned fire hoses. 

And they have this fantastic sort of patina and wear on them from use. Of course, the whole story of where they came from and their function prior to being a bag. But they're really slick, beautiful bags and purses and wallets and totes that they make out of this material. They're really lovely. 

Joshua Williams: And so often happens, these types of companies will start with a particular material, or a fabrication or an idea, but how did Elvis and Kresse go from these firehoses into other areas with their designer aesthetic. 

Sass Brown: Yeah, they have expanded on the material base. They started exclusively with fire hoses and it's actually quite surprising the range of products that they produce just from fire hoses. But they have gone and expanded to that. So they do use reclaimed lining and auction banners. But more importantly, they use wasted leather. That's become another major resource for them. They have a really interesting way of working with wasted leather. Because leather, of course, you're talking about a leather skin. It's a fairly finite scale to begin with. And once a company is taken that pattern pieces, the leftovers, don't tend to be very large scale pieces. So they have a process where they cut them into one of three different types of shapes, which completely interlock. So there's sort of a bit like tessellations, if you like, that interlock to each other and make a blanket, or a scale of fabric out of these interconnected leather pieces. So you get to see the shapes of the octagons and whatever as they're interconnecting. They're really interesting. There's a lovely texture to them. 

Joshua Williams: In addition to changing up their materiality, they've also moved from primarily being in London to a farm in Kent that's a perma farm. Can you talk about why that's an important part of this brand?

Sass Brown: Absolutely. I mean, obviously permaculture is a hugely important movement about regenerative farming. They have moved out to New Barns Farm; I've yet to visit them. But it's a new initiative for them. They have 17 acres. They're currently looking to hire someone to manage the sheep grazing. And it is intended to be a permaculture farm. And another really interesting thing about them is, or a really good part of what they do is 50% of their profits are donated. And they're donated to charities that align with the materials that they using. So, the firehose bags, for example, go to the Fireman's charity. The leather tessellations, 50% goes to the Barefoot College, which helps train women to be solar engineers. 

Joshua Williams: What can organizations learn from a company that really is dedicated to this circular idea, this idea of fashion design? 

Sass Brown: I think probably one of the most unique things about them is this development of this inter-locking shapes, it can use very small pieces of waste to make much larger items is a really ingenious way of utilizing very small scraps of material.

Joshua Williams: Simple, but a huge, huge outcome there. If you really are thinking about that from a scale point of view. 

Sass Brown: Yeah. Absolutely. 

Joshua Williams: Besides going to the New Barns Farm, which is going to have to be on my to-do list. How else can people get in contact with them and learn more about the brand, even purchase something? 

Sass Brown: They're pretty much on every platform you can imagine. And it's really straightforward. Elvis and Kresse. Kresse is spelled K R E double S E. And that's address for their Instagram feed, their Facebook feed, their Twitter feed and their website, which is elvisandkresse.com. 

Joshua Williams: Thanks again Sass, for joining us this month. We can't wait to see what you have next month.

Sass Brown: Looking forward to it. Thank you.