Cigarette Waste Hats

Cigarettes Have Never Been So Cool is a project by Central Saint Martins graduate Olivia Gino that transforms cigarette butts into a shearling-style hat. After collecting cigarette butt waste from friends who smoke, local recycling centers and off the streets, Gino turned the world's most abundant source of litter into a hat by extracting cellulose acetate, a polymer used to produce cigarette filters. After cleansing the cigarette filters with hot water, then 99% ethanol, and applying a cold rinse to extend the cellulose fibres, Gino layered and pierced the fibers to develop a felt textile. To enhance the material's strength, stitching was applied in an organic pattern.

According to Gino, "The resulting project takes the symbolic 'coolness' once attached to smoking and redirects it toward recycling."