EMERGING DESIGNER

Brenda Carillo

IN THIS FEATURE: Meet Brenda Fashion Focus

tatic Quo is all about expressing creativity through repurposed packaging. The main source of the materials is hidden wastestreams from technology, namely, Electro-Static Shielding Bags. This unique line of accessories merges fashion with technology.

Brenda Carrillo is a California native, with a lifelong fascination with arts and crafts, calligraphy, and graphic arts. As a teenager, she found work designing hand-lettered signs for local businesses. Although her career did not include any creative pursuits, jewelry making and floral arranging became a small home business for several years, which supplemented her income, and more importantly, became a practical creative outlet. The combination of entrepreneurship, and innovative designs from scraps and throw-aways was the genesis of Static Quo.

With a career in office management in a manufacturing machine shop, the thought of designing something stylish hadn't been part of the equation for many years. But that changed in 2004, when she got hired on with a new shop, and a completely different job. Soon after starting work in a cleanroom, she discovered that the electro-static shielding bags that packaged every electronic board they received, weren't recyclable. They were simply put in the dumpster and sent to the landfill.

Well, this was just the type of challenge that Brenda had always enjoyed. The use of old items in new ways had always been a particular favorite, so the challenge was to reuse the static bags in some useful, and creative way. After determining how to attach the bags and secure the seams, it was then time to give them a unique and fun look. As is her typical style, she used materials already on hand for an existing business, plus craft supplies in her closet.

The result is Static Quo, a line of accessories that merges fashion with technology.