Retracing the coffee bag

Millions of coffee bags arrive in Europe every year. Those with coffee from America are made of fique, an agave plant from the Andes. Those with coffee from Asia or Africa are made of jute, mainly from India and Bangladesh. At the end of their unique function, these bags/fibres meet in Europe and become a “waste stream” of high quality natural material, most notably in cities.

"Retracing the Coffee Bag" presents a wall tapestry and floor rug to showcase the first high-end needle felted textile collection, created from the coffee bags “harvested” in European cities.

Unravelling the coffee bag into a circular raw material through shredding and carding reveals the qualities (tactile, colour) of both fibres, enhanced with traces of labels and prints, embodying the journey of the bags. Needle felting different blends allows for rich variations of non-woven textiles that regulate acoustics, temperature, and humidity.

With our expertise on fique, jute, and needle felting, we want to reinsert these two natural fibres into the market and reposition them as precious and valuable, interrogating locally available materials and revealing links between industries, places, and textile practices.