MILAN — Sri Lanka-born artist Maya Arulpragasam, internationally known as M.I.A., will on Monday debut her first eyewear capsule collection, crafted from marine plastic debris and reclaimed fishing nets.
The musician, who is based in London, has teamed with Parley for the Oceans‘ new luxury circular brand Clean Waves, to design a sustainable capsule of modular sunglasses, all crafted from Parley Ocean Plastic, a trademarked range of high-end materials obtained by upcycling marine plastic waste.
The capsule, which is being promoted through a series of images and a video featuring M.I.A. lensed by photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and and Vinoodh Matadin, is available exclusively at Cleanwaves.com, as well as at Selfridges in London and in select Dover Street Market locations worldwide. Retail prices start at $340.
“Nature is everything. It’s your physical body, your mental state; it’s our oceans, land, air — everything is connected,” M.I.A. said. “If you have a good understanding of all these things, then we are in balance. And I think issues like overpopulation, overfishing, sea piracy, poverty, plastic pollution are all symptoms of a system that is broken.”
Parley for the Oceans started building an upcycling supply chain in the Maldives in 2016 and then it was extended to the Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka. In the Maldives, the company launched plastic interception programs, as well as a recycling center and innovation lab located in Malé.
Through its Global Cleanup Network, which is also financed by proceeds from the sale of Clean Waves collections, Parley aims to protect 1,000 islands around the world.
“Clean Waves is a new idea of a luxury brand, a creative fundraising platform where artists, designers, activists and material scientists unleash their skills to drive the Material Revolution alongside the protection of islands and oceans,” said Parley for the Oceans founder and chief executive officer Cyrill Gutsch. “Every Clean Waves collection is designed to provoke a future of creativity, collaboration and eco-innovation — with the goal of creating a world where humans live in peace with the ecosystems of nature.”
Creating engagement within consumers, each piece of the capsule collection by M.I.A. is engraved with the GPS coordinates of the remote islands that they are supporting by purchasing the Clean Waves products.
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