Sustainability is the name of the game, and luxury brands from all walks of life are getting better at playing it. Making an incredible example of innovation are American fashion designer Heron Preston with Mercedes-Benz by bringing forth a capsule collection that reuses the airbag in ways that trigger our imaginations. Bettina Fetzer, Mercedes-Benz AG’s vice president of communications and marketing, said, “The airbag concept collection is inspired by two anniversaries of the life-saving technical innovation: the airbag patent 50 years ago and the first serial introduction into our flagship model, the S-Class back in 1981. We are convinced that co-creation and collaborative projects create memorable and unique moments with our brand.”
The collection doesn’t simply use the airbags as the primary material of the garment but adapts its purpose and nature in the clothing items as well. The designer took things a notch higher by actually incorporating airbag technology into the garments. “I really challenged my team to figure out how we could inflate the clothes and puff up and deflate the jackets on demand. The result is a miniature airbag inside the bombers that allows for instant volume—or instant minimization—depending on the user’s preference,” he explained.
This one-of-a-kind capsule collection is made from hundreds of unadorned and undyed Mercedes Benz airbags. The collection pays the perfect homage to the airbag as the life-saving feature celebrates its 50th anniversary and 40 years of its use in Mercedes-Benz. The collection sees an assortment of garments made from upcycled nylon airbags, which would otherwise go to waste. A jacket emulates the airbag inflates and deflates, a skirt, uber-cool workwear trousers, and a cape with a drawstring hood, which could be the least useful product of the otherwise feasible collection.
He said, “98% of what you see is authentic to the actual airbags. I preserved as much as I could; I didn’t want to change too much. I kept the integrity all there.” Heron Preston’s exclusive merchandise will be available on the re-sell platform Goat from September 10.
