University Of Brighton Design Graduates Team Up To Turn Waste Uniforms Into Sustainable Bags

A University of Brighton graduate’s project making bags from waste courier uniforms has landed him a collaboration with local sustainable design studio, gomi, co-founded by another former Brighton student.

Angus Clifford, who graduated from the university this summer with a degree in Product Design, has teamed up with Tom Meades, co-founder and chief designer at gomi, to bring Angus’s final year university project to life.

Each year, millions of courier uniforms for companies including Deliveroo, Just East, Uber Eats – and many more – are handed out, most of which ultimately end up in landfill.

Angus’s project, which  was among the many innovative solutions showcased by Brighton students at this year’s Graduate Summer Show focused on finding a sustainable response to this waste challenge.

His collection of bags made from waste uniforms caught the eye of Tom Meades, who graduated from the University of Brighton in 2017, and now guest lectures on design courses at the university.

Tom approached Angus with the offer to collaborate with gomi on a range of wearable bags to hold the gomi power banks as well as other every day tech.

The bags are handmade at Plus X Innovation in Brighton, after Angus was granted a residency to work on this limited collection following his graduation this summer.

Angus Clifford said:

“My experience studying Product Design at Brighton shaped my social and environmental conscience, a key value that drives my design work.

"As a result, I have specialised in exploring a circular approach to breathing new life into waste textiles.

“I’m not going to be the one to solve how we’re going to recycle these 33 million uniforms, but I wanted to use the project to raise awareness while I work on my own brand and seek further collaborations to make more bags from waste textiles.”

Tom Meades added:

“After meeting Angus whilst guest tutoring at Brighton, I was impressed by his drive to use this waste material to create a very special and unique finish.

"Each bag’s unique combination of colours, textures and functionality of the materials we used was all pre-determined by the waste from the courier uniforms.

“There’s something magical about the contrast of taking unloved waste materials destined for landfill and using creativity and design to turn it into something people desire that lasts - as well as making a strong story that hopefully inspires people to think differently.

"That’s core to what we’ve done in building gomi.”

Tom’s gomi is well-known for its sustainability-led consumer electronics products such as the gomi speaker and the gomi power bank, both of which are powered by repurposed e-bike batteries.

The Brighton-based company gained global recognition in 2023, after showing at Paris Fashion Week and now being stocked by several leading stores across the world including Design Museum and Goodhood in the UK, and Museum of the Future in Dubai.