Running a bike workshop and repairing countless bicycles every month, there is unavoidably a lot of material that needs to be disposed of. We always try to find the most sensible way of getting rid of this material. For the metal parts we regularly contact a scrap merchant who takes all the steel and aluminium to transform it to be re-used.
With all the flat tyres we repair we also amass a lot of used inner tubes. Luckily we have a friend who has found an ingenious way of giving all this rubber and latex a new life. She is going to tell us a little bit more about what exactly she does with them all….
Hi I’m Phia Griffin and I’m the designer and creator of LE POPPOP. I pass by Musette every now and again when they have a bag full of used inner tubes, which I use for my new business LE POPPOP – recycled rubber backpacks.
After falling in love with Bordeaux in 2014, I knew this city was where I would live for the rest of my life. Having travelled all over the world using numerous backpacks I decided I wanted to create a backpack that had a personality. A backpack that was unique to each person, but most importantly used recycled material and was made locally.
Why LE POPPOP?
Poppop was my grandad whom I lived with as a child. He was a family man who possessed such love and kindness. All he wanted in life was to see people smile. Poppop always bought quality products and decades later he refused to throw them away even if they had holes in them – parcel tape was always to hand. Poppop was the pioneer of recycling and he didn’t even know it.
Since I was 14 I’ve had a love for sewing, when I was designing the backpacks I realised that if I wanted to create something different I would have to do it myself. So I have a tiny little workshop in my flat here in Bordeaux and I make each LE POPPOP bag by hand.
Vegan back packs
The backpacks have a classic, clean look with the contrast of modern interiors giving them a unique and quirky feel. I didn’t want someone to look at the backpack and think it was recycled. I wanted them to think “cool backpack, I want one”. On first glance most people think it’s made from leather and when I tell them it’s recycled rubber and 100% vegan, they are SO surprised.
LE POPPOP backpacks are made from repurposed bicycle inner tubes and heavy duty polyester which means your essentials are protected against Bordeaux’s rainy weather. I also use YKK zips which are of the highest quality and to top it off they are made from recycled plastic bottles. But what makes LE POPPOP stand out is our unique interiors which change from collection to collection.
LE POPPOP’s are made to last a lifetime.
I hope you love La Première Collection, we shall be releasing a new collection very soon.
musettebordeaux.com 