Cute and portable. The idea here is that this charger will work even in less-than-perfect sunlight (90% capacity in 4 hours of average sunlight). It’s not releasing until next month, so no word yet on pricing or availability. Engadget has more details and a copy of the XPAL press release, if you want to learn more.
Dress made of nylon baseball jackets
Our general rule for Fashion Fridays is that the designers must be local, but this was just too stunning not to share, so we'll drop it on a Thursday, and save Fridays for SF love. Gary Harvey is British, but if he wants to bring his stunning fashion sense to the Bay Area, we’ll welcome him with open arms. This was all part of NY’s Fashion Week.
Kicking off the GreenShows on Sunday was Gary Harvey, British designer and couture-upcycler extraordinaire. Each of Harvey's of 22 showstopping gowns was expertly constructed from repurposed goods, with a focus on iconic vintage garments and materials, including Levi's 501s, '70s floral print maxi dresses, logo tees, and the pages of the Financial Times, to name a few. Inspired by "refined elegance, drama, and proportion," Harvey makes a statement about secondhand clothing by re-contextualizing classic garments into new dramatic silhouettes.
Click through to Ecouterre to see the full slideshow. I’ve pulled a few of my favorites.
Made from dozens of repurposed polka-dot dresses
Laundry bags: Look at the woven bodice!
Skirts made of vintage scarves
Via Ecouterre
design*sponge is on my must-read list for pretty things, and they just did a great summary of Ubico Studio's collection of furniture made from reclaimed wood. My favorites are the shelves made from old drawers. These are quirky pieces that look modern and fully designed despite the fact that are clearly pieced together from found drawers.
More details on design*sponge. or via the studio's website.
Just a little eye candy for today. Pretty pretty planter + bench by Juan Pablo Sammartino found on Apartment Therapy. More details on the designer's blog: play.jps
Apartment Therapy noted that Mexican eco-friendly furniture design house Pirwi is now selling their collection in the US (at Kirk, in Austin). Pirwi does a lot of serious (and affordable) modern furniture and has won all kinds of design awards.
If you get more than one, you can arrange them, um, creatively. They are also made of FSC-certified teak, sourced locally in Mexico, where the furniture is built. Best of all, each dog is named after a Mexican wrestler. Shown, El Santo and Alushe.
Images from Pirwi
Architecture blog 3rings highlights this modern yet low-tech sink design by Maja Ganszyniec 
I'm not sure how practical it is, especially with in the house, but it's a lovely implementation of a thought-provoking concept.
Book bookshelf by Richard Jennions
Egg-crate lamp by Federico Otero
Tupperware Lights by Frank Criscione
Very cool re-use of plumbing fixtures by the Tel Aviv design team DEMO/Design Clinic. Their stated goal is to reduce their manufacturing to zero, as "everything that you need must have already been made for you, built in another product." These are a good start. The lamps are for sale at their Etsy shop, and reasonably priced between $170 and $230. Note the clever use of the taps as the on/off switches. 
Just one question: If something breaks, do you call a plumber or an electrician?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, 
Marbles
This isn't really a design post, but Real Simple has a great article on what can (and can't) be recycled, with some surprises that go way beyond the usual cans, bottles, and white office paper. They also link to some organizations who are making some very cool products from our cast-offs.
Images from Real Simple and Terracycle
Pretty, pretty, and made of recycled cardboard!
Thanks for Apartment Therapy for the tip. Image from Jungmo Kwon
Allsop Home has been making solar lanterns for years, but their newest offering, Soji Modern, has been making the rounds of all the design blogs. Enjoy! 
Images from Allsop Home
David Stark designed series of recycled cardboard pieces for a silent auction for the Cooper Hewitt Museum. The pieces are all made from West Elm packaging materials, and the fundraiser was held in their newest Manhattan shop.
Design*Sponge has all the details, plus the rest of the photos and links to more of David's work. Check it out!
Images from David Stark via Design*Sponge
What's this? Paperclips! Yes, over 4,000 paperclips, meticulously hand-crafted into a chandelier. This is a custom piece by Gary Ponzo for Met Home's Californication show house. Like it? Hate it? Either way, you gotta love the shadows it makes on the ceiling.
And in case you're wondering, that is a column of stacked books in the corner.
The flat-pack masters over at MIO are very good at making flat things 3D and making 3D things flat. Their new line of Trask lighting is flat-packed, customizable, and uses LEDs. It's a win-win-win!
Norwegian designer Catherine Kullburg has been working the laser all over these veneer panels to create a glowing forest inside an Oslo nightclub. Her ceiling/wall installation includes a 10-meter wide back lit veneer frieze. Thanks to Apartment Therapy for the tip.
Images from Catherine Kullburg
