It’s best not to read this if you hate your job…
Do you feel like you’re stuck in the rat race and have you ever found yourself daydreaming about packing it all in, working for yourself; doing something creative or meaningful?
That’s exactly what brothers Ben and Harry Tucker did when they decided to ditch their jobs in property investment and modelling to set up their crazy and inspiring businesses, FallenFurniture and Plane. Their businesses is now flying high and have redefined upcycling in the UK.
The brothers risked it all, packed in their respective careers, and embarked on a vocational adventure that couldn’t have been more different from their previous day jobs.
They moved out of London and took up residence in a barn on the outskirts of Trowbridge near Bath (where they grew up) and got to work salvaging airplanes destined for landfill to create interesting and bespoke pieces of furniture and art that fetch thousands of pounds each.
Now you’ll find find their products, made of incredible materials, but once destined for the bin, in high-end designer shops.
Ben and Harry have created drinks cabinets made from bomb casements, coffee tables that were once plane doors, and even cocktail bars that were formally plane engines.
Harry said “We discovered that huge volumes of high quality, perfectly sound material was being sent for incineration or landfill.
“Even though we’re only scraping the surface, it seemed like a crime that these incredible materials were going to waste.
“After buying some scrapped aeroplanes, we started out using simple cutting, polishing and buffing tools that we sourced from Moleroda.com [a UK company that manufacture polishing, deburring and jewellery making tools] and were able to turn discarded waste metal into shiny and striking objects, furniture and sculptures.”
Such has been their success with one-off items selling for up to £50,000, the bothers are now scaling up their reclamation efforts and have created a spin-off business from Fallen Furniture called ‘PLANE’.
PLANE was born to help put a stop to even more perfectly good resources ending up in landfill, with a production line of luxury handbags recycled from plane seat fabric, as well other more affordable items such as clocks, pens and bottle openers.
“In the beginning, everything we have created has been distinctly aviatory, but now we’re brining products to the market that people wouldn’t necessarily know comes from an aircraft.
“All of the products we create have a story and a heritage, and that really excites us. We love the thought that someone’s handbag, for example, has a long history and a story of its own. It could be connected to hundreds of thousands of other people’s life journeys.
“Imagine distant relatives, friends, family or even the owner of the handbag once sitting on the exact seat that the material came from?”
Whilst some people may not like the idea of their handbag being sat on by a hundred-thousand bottoms, others see the beauty in their bag being connected with the world in a positive way. Rather than coming from a miserable sweatshop and being discarded as quickly as next year’s new fashion trends appear, The Tuckers strive to create luxury items that will come with a narrative and be made from stalwart material that stands the test of time… and avoid the fate of landfill forever.
“Today there’s so much stuff that’s soulless, plain, and was made to be thrown away. We want something you can attach stories to and won’t ever want to throw away.”
The brothers attribute their resourcefullness to their parents and grandparent who encouraged them to reuse and fix things when they were children. The pair want to help change the world by making truly sustainable and durable goods from rubbish. They want to create goods that have stories. Tales of the past and future adventures.
Check out a couple of their creations below or find a lot more on www.fallenfurniture.com/ and www.planeindustries.co.uk/
