Photo by: Alan Stanton via flickr

At first glance, who would have thought that a red designer-looking handbag displayed in a department store was made from a decommissioned fire hose along with silk from a used parachute bought from a junk shop?

Two UK-based business partners turn discarded materials into various fashionable items, reported CBS.

James Henrit a.k.a. Elvis and Kresse Wesling -- they simply named their unique company, Elvis & Kresse -- refer to their products as “sustainable luxury,” as indicated on the company website.

Their “novel” materials, according to Wesling, include auction banners, printing blankets, leather scraps, and tea sacks.

She said, “The only way for us to exist in a luxury space is to put unbelievable levels of craftsmanship and care and design into them.”

As the people behind the Cartier Women's Initiative Award put it on their website: “luxury from waste.”

In an interview with CWIA, Wesling disclosed: “I’ve been passionate about waste for years!”

“I want to add value to waste and build a valuable product from it,” added the Canadian-born environmental entrepreneur.

Elvis & Kresse creates bags, wallets, and belts for men and women, together with various accessories, such as cases for electronic gadgets.

The company not only markets these designer items from recycled stuff in the UK but also in other parts of Europe as well as in the US.

In 2009, a stylist once contacted Wesling to send a belt to be used by a Hollywood actress for a magazine shoot. She thought it was a prank but eventually sent one, according to The Telegraph.

That same year, a copy of the June issue of US Vogue was mailed to her. Gracing the cover was a smiling Cameron Diaz, wearing an Elvis & Kresse belt.

“Sustainable luxury is a real possibility nowadays. People aren’t just buying green because it’s green anymore. They want design and craftsmanship too,” Wesling told CWIA.