Based in San Francisco and Brazil, Escama Studio makes beautiful recycled fashion accessories using crochet and recycled aluminum pull-tabs.
A fundamental part of Escama Studio is to credit the artists who create each accessory. Each piece comes with a hang tag bearing the signature of the person who made it. The artists work in co-operatives located outside of Brasília, Brazil. The groups offer women and men in the community a means to earn a living wage through handicrafts and provide a setting where friends are made and self-esteem is regained.
Below the short film shows the various steps required to make a ring pull bag: from sourcing recycled aluminum, sorting usable tabs, washing, polishing, trimming and crocheting pop tops into the finished products. This film follows the journey of the bags from Brazil to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The film was shot by a film crew in Brazil and was directed and edited in London by the award winning team of Tom Atkinson and Luke Dormehl. It aired in the UK in 2009 as part of the Channel 4 ‘3 Minute Wonder’ series. The version that you see here was later edited for use in the US.
