While searching for items to include in last week’s futuristic wear Etsomnia™ post, I came across the remarkable, innovative, completely mad work sold by the Etsy shop Ziptie Jewelry. Yes, you read that right. All of maker Renata’s work is made of zipties. I fell instantly in love. In my club kid days, when I was young and hip enough, I would have worn the hell out of these things!

The charming Renata was an absolute doll, and she wrote me at length about her inspiration and her process. She spent her early life interested in architecture and construction – she loved to know how things worked and how they were built. A natural artist, Renata wanted to come up with that One Big Idea that we all search for, but try as she might, nothing came to mind. Then, as happens to me with my best ideas, the ziptie concept came to her in a dream.

“The next morning I was so enthusiastic about it, that I rushed to the hardware store and bought my first 1000 zipties. I brought them home and sat at the table. I asked “How can I turn an ordinary thing, a ziptie into something worth looking at? Something extraordinary?” It didn’t take long of playing around and experimenting with them, before miracle happened – under my hands started to emerge beautiful amazing creations. I was hooked. And from that time on, not a single day passes when I am not creating something out of zipties.”

-Renata the Ziptie Lady

Renata’s son, an artist in his own right, helps out with the photography, photo editing, logos, and other daily duties. She calls them a dream team. With his help, she is free to create new, amazing designs whenever they occur to her.

You can follow Ziptie Jewelry’s work on Renata’s website, Etsy shop, and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

All images property of Renata/Ziptie Jewelry, used with permission.