'I turn abandoned Leeds Festival tents into fashion worth hundreds of pounds'

Meet the eco-friendly designer who is already eyeing up unwanted tents at Leeds Festival to give them a new lease of life

An eco-friendly fashion designer has created her own line of clothes - made out of abandoned festival tents.

And she already has Leeds Festival in her sights for her next designs as she aims to collect hundreds of unwanted tents following the event at Bramham Park at the end of the month.

Jess O’Riley, 25, transforms old camping gear left behind by revellers at music bashes into trendy jackets, tops, trousers and bumbags.

Her climate-friendly clobber will also end up on the catwalk when it is modelled at Manchester Fashion Week next month.

Jess said: “I started salvaging tents after festivals and was just so surprised what people throw away.

“They must spend hundreds of pounds on brand news tents and then just leave them in the field.

“It is quite depressing salvaging them because you just think they’d end up in landfill but the magic really starts when I get them into the studio.

“The material is versatile and the possibilities are endless. I make a lot of jackets and trousers and bags which are popular.”

Jess launched her brand J.O.Studio after graduating from the Manchester Fashion Institute with a First Class degree in Fashion Design in 2024.

Jess says it costs nothing to collect the unwanted tents from the gig sites and expects to salvage hundreds more after the Leeds Festival later this month.

Her company also makes tent duffel bags from the leftover ground sheets which she flogs for £90.

One of her most popular item is a trendy vest - which features the tent toggles as buttons - which sells for £195.

Other items Jess sells including tent tote bags for £20, recycled patchwork t-shirts for £20 and guy rope keyrings for £8.

Jess says one of the challenges is turning the tents into items which bear little resemblance to their original purpose.

She said: "Some of the jackets doesn't look like they’re made from a tent because I turn them inside out, quilt it and really elevate the material.

"My favourite part of the process is changing the way these bags and clothes are viewed by using design to make them exciting and different.”