Artist transforms sailing ship canvasses into purses

Artist transforms sailing ship canvasses into pursesBremen, Germany - They have many thousands of sea miles behind them and borne the brunt of many a storm.

But eventually even the best of sails has to be discarded. That's when designer Jan-Marc Stuehrmann of Bremen, Germany steps in to give the old material new life as a purse. He buys huge amounts of old sail material from sail makers and hands it over to prisoners in jails across Bremen and the surrounding area where it is transformed into trendy, one-of-a-kind shoulder bags.

"The bag reveals the material's life as a sail," said Stuehrmann. Silk-screens and applications on the sails give buyers plenty off colours and motifs to choose from. Also available are bags made from Swiss army blankets, cowhide and deer leather. One thing they all have in common are a wide shoulder strap made from riggings used by harbour workers to unload containers. The straps can sustain up to six tons in weight.

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