Sabahan couple makes it to the news by upcycling aluminium can caps into sustainable fashion accessories

Art has no limit and no bound, once again proved by a newly-wed couple Calvin Patrick Monjinun and Cheryl Joanne Chan, with a unique products display at creative art exhibition held at the Sabah International Convention Centre. The couple exhibited their unique creations of handbags, clutches, and other fashion accessories made from aluminium can caps.

“I started crafting and upcycling in 2012, but only in recent years did I get more serious about this field. However, the main challenge is to have a stable supply of materials,” said Mojinun.

He also said he adopted the idea of turning can caps into something usable from a family trip to the Philippines, where he spotted beautiful upcycled items for sale.

“So I thought, these products are actually good. I should bring such concepts home and try out the market here,” he added.

Monjinum continued the concept of upcycling or recycling has not yet appealed Sabahans due to a lack of understanding and awareness of the importance of sustainable fashion. 

“In fact, people were not willing to pay for what they deemed to be trash. People did not even want to donate or sell us materials we needed, such as can caps, saying it was too much work to get them off the cans, or that they did not see any monetary returns for themselves,” Mojinun told The Star.

So, what they do is manually separate the caps from the cans, clean them and smooth the sharp edges. They do all of these using fingers, which often result in cuts from the sharp edges.

“We cannot allow our customers to get injured by our products, so we must make sure that the components are properly checked before we even make anything,” he said.

While Monjinun does most of the knitting and sewing, his wife Cheryl contributes to marketing and brainstorming.

Although the demand for such products is narrow in Sabah, they believe things will change in due course. They have already observed on social media that acceptance for such products is much higher outside Sabah.