Mantis: The collection of vintage clothing made from recycled cigarette butts

The look is reminiscent of traditional hand-knitted clothing, but the real anti-waste innovation lies in the raw material used: collected and recycled cigarette butts.

The Mantis collection , created by Chilean designer Alexandra Guerrero, is made by transforming cigarette butts into a textile fiber that can be used in combination with wool. Each piece is composed of 10 percent cigarette butts, purified and soaked in alcohol for 24 hours, and 90 percent sheep's wool.

The Mantis collection (named after the praying mantis, an insect associated with transformation and adaptation) includes sweaters; cardigans; scarves; hats; and other knitted accessories.

The production process, in summary, works like this:

1. Collecting cigarette butts: cigarette filters are recovered, which are mainly made of cellulose acetate, a synthetic plastic.
2. Sanitation: The filters are purified, washed with a solvent, sterilized and dried to remove tar, nicotine and other contaminants.
3. Transformation into fiber: once cleaned, the filters are shredded and transformed into a textile fibre.
4. Spinning: the resulting fibre is dyed and spun together with sheep's wool.

Each garment requires approximately 1.000 cigarette butts and is made entirely by hand.

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