So, as many of you know, Broke Boutique is an eco-friendly fashion brand but fashion isn’t where I started out, and it certainly isn't where I thought it would go!
This story starts in 2006, when I was 18, and living a life of freedom travelling all around the UK. Me and a wonderful crew of misfits would live on festival sites, through the summer, building stages and decor. This soon manifested into a passion where I would make and design decor, specifically, from discarded materials. I built a chandelier from old motorbike chains, disco balls from scratched CDs, palm trees from old tyres, a 12v sound-system on wheels, crazy dressing-up outfits and so much more!!
The 12v sound system (Porta-Party) which I helped build, to bring to party to the people at festivals.
After many years of crafting from waste, friends started giving me things they no longer wanted (but weren’t willing to just have it end up in landfill). I soon got stuck into making other pieces of artwork, bags, lights, drinks glasses and so on, which I enjoyed for a while. Tinkering with rubbish and transforming waste into something beautiful and useful was, and is, my biggest passion! But I was feeling a need to focus on something I love and sticking with it.
This is a lamp I created from old discarded casettes. I used to make these as presents for friends.
One day I was lumbered with a HUGE tractor inner tube! I honestly wasn't sure where to start. I decided to play around with making masks. They were pretty cool, and it was fun looking like a super hero for a while. BUT, I got bored and the cogs began to turn....
Thank you for following my story! The Broke Boutique journey doesn't end here, this is just the beginning. The spark that carried on burning into an inferno.
Me wearing a rubber mask which I designed using the inner tube. Little did I know where I would be headed!