


Elvis & Kresse, a British maker of leather goods, loves scrap. Co-founded by an entrepreneurial couple in 2005, it has built a profitable and socially-responsible business by transforming tens of tons of fire hoses decommissioned by Fire Brigades across the UK each year into luxury products for consumers.

If early adopters of a radically new product ideally include tastemakers, a designer of creative textiles, clothing accessories and jewelry couldn’t aim higher than Dior, Givenchy, Chanel and Armani. Israeli artisan-entrepreneur Tzuri Gueta counts all these giants of high fashion among his promoters.

The first woman to have sailed single-handed around the world, France’s Isabelle Autissier applied an unorthodox strategy to slingshot to the head of the next edition of the 27,000-mile ocean race four years later. But after taking a commanding lead, an unexpected event in the Indian Ocean forced her to hastily reconfigure her boat and resize her ambitions.