Kresse Wesling’s radical brand turns discarded fire hoses into sustainable fashion

“I just sat there while he de-sheeted an entire roll,” recalls Wesling. “I was like, ‘He’s got to stop at some point, this is a big roll. We’re going to be here all day.’”

Wesling had recently started her own biodegradable packaging company, supplying multiple branches of Pacific Coffee with environmentally friendly toilet paper and bin bags. Now she was trying to win over The Peninsula – and succeeded. In fact, she’s taken the concept of sustainable luxury further than perhaps she thought possible. To understand Wesling’s latest venture, Elvis & Kresse, I visit her and her partner James “Elvis” Henrit’s workshop, in a quiet corner of Kent, in southern England.

A low-slung workshop edged by fields, only the stacks of coiled, decommissioned fire hoses at the gate hint that something unusual is happening here. Inside, I find two interns bent over sewing machines while more experienced hands sort through supple Burberry offcuts. A giant wooden table, riven with score marks, is covered in scraps of old tea sacks. Joni the dog bounds over to greet visitors until she’s called off.