The Aqua Collection is made up of the kcbDesigns bags and the first is actually aquamarine – made of nets salvaged from the sea.

There is a huge environmental problem created by fishnets discarded into the sea. In the water, they trap and kill sea turtles, and piles of rotting nets are a mess on the beach.

There are regular cleanup sessions by expat groups. It seemed to me that we could recycle some of the nets.

It started with a clever bag fisherman’s bag I found snagged on a dead tree on my favourite beach in Malaysia.

It is clearly handmade and I’ve been inspired to replicate it.

It turned out to be more difficult than I imagined.

First I acquired the fishnet but it turned out to be too fine and flimsy. But I had also gone shopping for the rope for a handle, and it was too robust.

Back to the drawing board!

With my trusty partner, we devised an easier design and we plan to go into mass production…when we get bigger fishnet!