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Emeryville-based Oxgut Hose Company makes high-end home furniture and accessories with "retired" fire hose material that otherwise would end up in landfills. The exclusive designs come with a heroic past and a rugged history. Founder LauraLe Wunsch stumbled upon the material when she visited a fire station, and soon after, she commissioned SF artist and designer Oliver DiCicco to create furniture with the synthetic fiber-cotton blend. He made the Kepple Stool ($1,155) and the O-type Chair ($1,400)
"His designs revealed a higher level of capacity for this material and showed me what was possible," Wunsch told the SF Chronicle. "Then it was like, 'OK, what else can we do?'" A successful Kickstarter campaign later, Oxgut makes a range of home goods, including popular fire hose mats ($185-$275) and industrial chic wine carriers ($56). For a full list of local retailers, check out Oxgut's Facebook page.
· Fire hose sparks creativity at Emeryville's Oxgut [The San Francisco Chronicle]
· Oxgut Hose Company [Official Site]
· San Francisco Trashes 4,500+ Pounds of Clothes Every Hour [Racked SF]