Manchester designer gives abandoned festival tents a second life

After a festival weekend, the fields can be left with a surprisingly gloomy encore: abandoned tents, many still usable but headed for disposal.

Manchester designer Jess O’Riley is giving some of that material another act. She collects discarded tents, washes and takes them apart, then remakes their waterproof fabric into jackets, trousers, tops and bags.

It is a clever fit for the material. Tent fabric is lightweight, tough and designed to handle rain; details such as zips, toggles and guide ropes can become useful parts of the finished piece too. Each item has its own quirks, because every rescued tent is unique.

The clothes will not solve festival waste on their own, and upcycling by hand is naturally small-scale. But it makes a very simple point visible: a tent is not rubbish just because the music has stopped. O’Riley’s work turns a throwaway habit into something practical, wearable and distinctly Manchester!