‘Still Life’

Upcycling non-biodegradable plastic bags into jewelry

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed and wasted worldwide.

Difficult and costly to recycle, most plastic bags end up in landfills where they take around 300 years to photo-degrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.

Selected by Swarovski Elements to design a capsule collection, Vanina composed ‘Still Life’ - in french ‘Nature Morte’ - as a tribute to nature’s blossoming beauty, by marrying non-biodegradable plastic bags with precious Swarovski Crystals.

Digital fabrication files were parametrically coded to adapt to the varying sizes of plastic bags, thus aiming for a zero-waste transformation of the material.

The digital process is followed by delicate and patient handcraft accomplished by passionate artisans of Lebanon.

About The Brand

VANINA is a social enterprise that spontaneously grew out of a common passion between childhood friends Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Hayek.
It all started with a jewelry line in 2007, and evolved to become a lifestyle label, presenting seasonal collections of jewelry, accessories, and apparel; all proudly handcrafted in Lebanon, and distributed internationally.

Beneath their light and playful glamour, the Vanina products hide a passionately engaged activism that aims to promote local community development through the valorization of craftsmanship and environmental awareness.