Old Hawaiian Airlines Seats Are Made Into Beautiful Fashion Pieces

Hawaiian Airlines and a local fashion technology class partner to turn old seats into new clothes.

Talk about a fashion challenge—three Hawai‘i designers took old Hawaiian Airlines seat covers and turned them into stylish pieces of clothing. The upcycled fashions will  be on display at HONOLULU Fashion Week—learn more about the design challenge here.

SEAT-COVER MATERIAL IS RE-IMAGINED AND RE-CONSTRUCTED AS PART OF An UPCYCLING PROJECT.

Designer Randy Oribello works on his corset piece–part of a collaborative upcycling project using recycled seat-cover material from Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 717 aircraft.

Photo: Courtesy of David Kamida and Hawaiian Airlines

Designer Jacky Lau deconstructs old Hawaiian Airlines first-class seats for his menswear project at Honolulu Community College’s Fashion Technology Department.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID KAMIDA AND HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

DESIGNER RANDY ORIBELLO WORKS ON A SECTION OF HIS CORSET WITH MATERIAL OBTAINED FROM RECYCLED HAWAIIAN AIRLINES BOEING 717 SEATS. 

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID KAMIDA AND HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

Designer Chai Lim checks the fit on his bustier piece. “The moment I saw the fabric, the design just popped into my mind,” he says.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID KAMIDA AND HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

Sketches show designer Chai Lim’s thought process while working with the unique seat-back textures.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID KAMIDA AND HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

If you’d like to see the final designs, all of the flight-couture items will be on display at HONOLULU Fashion Week this coming weekend, Friday Nov. 20 through Sunday, Nov. 22, in the Hawaiian Airlines special lounge area in the Hawai‘i Convention Center. View the full schedule.