As many already know, Sealand recently opened its first Experience Store (If you don’t know, find out here). At the heart of the Experience Store is the Concept Room – designed to be interactive, educational, and constantly changing. The decision on how to first use the space was a tough one. Once we came up with the idea for Sealand Select, however, there were no longer any other options.
Sealand Select aims to incorporate our desire to emphasise the unique and personal nature of our products, while engaging our customers in the process, not simply the product, of upcycling. We have always taken pride in each product from the Sealand Upcycle range being a one-off. The exterior panels all have slightly different stitching, textures, designs, marks, and stories to tell. The internal advertising banners that line our products have different colours, patterns, and pictures. To take the personalisation a step further, every product has the signature of the person who made the Sealand gear stamped on its internal lining. The exclusive nature of our products has been foundational to the success of Sealand – it is strategy that adds value to waste and changes perceptions surrounding upcycled products.
Sealand Select takes these principles to the next level. By allowing people to design their own Sealand products, we are encouraging uniqueness and personalisation to the extreme. By including people in the production process, we hope to educate and inspire others to bring new life to waste through upcycling. The only question left was which product to use as the first Sealand Select option. Luckily, this didn’t prove too difficult.
The Toastie is one of our most versatile products and an all-time favourite of people from around the world. It can be used as a toiletry bag, stationary pouch, security guard for all things small, or anything in between. Toastie Select allows customers to ‘build their own Toastie’ when visiting the Sealand Experience Store. In the middle of the concept room, we have a table with ready-cut panels and zips that make up the pieces of a Toastie. A person can go into the room and hand select the specific panels that they want to design their Toastie. Once they have selected all the required pieces, the panels will be sent to the Sealand Studio. The Toastie will then be handmade, and ready for collection 48 hours later.
We have been blown away by how positive the response to Toastie Select has been. It has pushed us to think of more innovative ways to utilise the Concept Room, and we have some exciting things in the pipeline. If you are in the area - or even if you aren’t – take a trip to the Sealand Experience Store, have a look around, and turn some waste material that would otherwise have ended in landfill into the most useful and unique pouch you will ever own.
