Recycled Runway

Sustainable Fashion Benefit for the American Mural Project

Plastic Armor: The Cards We’re Dealt

This wearable statement piece transforms discarded consumer culture into social commentary. Constructed from 122 reclaimed plastic cards, including former gift cards, membership cards, luxury brand identifiers and hotel key cards. This modern interpretation of chain mail meets 1960s pop fashion illustrates our disposable relationship with an indisposable material.

Over 300 metal binder rings connect these petroleum-based rectangles into a flexible garment, fringed by second-market industrial zip ties. The resulting silhouette references mod design, creating a visual dialogue between mid-century optimism about synthetic materials and our contemporary understanding of their environmental impact.

Each card represents a moment of convenience that becomes a permanent part of our planet's fossil record — a visual tally of the cards we’ve dealt ourselves in the high-stakes game of continuous consumption.

kHyal on the runway wearing upcycled reclaimed plastic hotel, gift and museum membership card dress, and repurposed plastic hair curler accessory. Photo: ©Karl Heine