Kompakt are really pleased to welcome recycled artist and designed Katcha Bilek!
Hi Katcha, would you like to introduce yourself to our audience?
English and Czech parentage, brought up in Holland, speak 6 languages, lived all over Europe and well-travelled. Mainly worked in languages – teaching and copywriting/editing. Also great interest in Art, Design and photography.
Decided to live on the road as a traveller and converted a 1968 fire engine in 1999. Worked on decor at festivals and started tinkering with innertubes as a hobby. I’m a 3D designer, and whilst living on the road handbags satisfied this need to design in 3D and also make something useful. never wanted to work in fashion, so I am somewhat surprised that I’ve ended up in the fashion world!
When did you first begin using recycled materials in design?
My mum has that post-wartime ‘no waste’ mentality which she past on to me, so I’ve been creating things from discarded material since I can remember.
Is there any machinery used in the bag making process?
We mainly make by hand. Some of the bags and wallets are sewn by a big old industrial sewing machine, and rivets are put in by a twist press.
What are your favourite products that you have created?
The Ade backpack and the Natalia Bucket bag.
Can you tell us about your upcycled art installations?
The tyre crocodiles started out at an Upcycle-Art competion in Andorra in 2003. Artists were given a huge pile of rubbish to make from, and that’s where the first crocodile was born. Since then I’ve made a good few more and they are hired out to festivals and events. Also some can be seen as permanent fixtures in a few playgrounds across the UK.
The bikewheel furniture also started off at that same event in Andorra. The bike wheel chandeliers started as a commission for a Glastonbury Festival installation, and are also quite popular at events.
How do you source your materials for upcycling, and what are they?
We go to bike shops, tyre change companies.
What have been the greatest challenges for you along the way?
Repeatedly telling people that the bags are not made from leather!
In the past people were a lot less eco & ethically concious so I would get a lot of ‘Oh, well done, how clever’ but many would still want a cheap item from dubious sources.
Who are your greatest inspirations?
My mum! She instilled in me a ‘no-waste’ attitude from an early age. She brought me up to be resourceful, and that inspires creativity.
William Morris, and here’s a quote from him that sums up why: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
Alongside running a thriving handbag company, I’d like to be educating others in design and being resourceful.
Do you have any cool anecdotes you can share with us?
I designed and made a batch of manbags for the BRIT Awards last year that were gifted to all the male stars at the event. One of them was Prince, one of my biggest idols. That in itself is a major achievement in my books!
Thanks Katcha! Check out her video below…