O2 has collaborated with artist Sean Miles to create a set of what it calls Talk to the Hand gloves produced entirely from recycled mobile phone parts. The project put together by Sean Miles uses old Pineider and Miu Miu gloves and old O2 recycled handsets to create phone gloves that you can talk into by raising them to your ear and mouth.

Sean Miles is known for producing vintage fashion accessories which have previously included Nokia-toting Christian Leboutin shoes as well as a set of silver Wellington boots with built in walkie talkies.

The gloves Miles has produced consist of a speaker unit in the thumb and a microphone in the finger of the glove. They pair with a smartphone via Bluetooth and then you can use the gloves to make phone calls.

O2 Recycle and Sean Miles are currently working together on a set of ongoing projects to upcycle old gadgets into new useful items. According to O2 there are an estimated 70 million unused mobile phones in the UK.  

“I hope that my Talk to the Hand project will get people to think again about the waste created by not recycling gadgets. While these might not be for everyone, there are hundreds of other uses that old phones can be put to – from being reconditioned and used again to being mined for their components. If a few more people recycle their gadgets rather than send them to landfill, I think this project will have fulfilled its aim,” said Miles.

Next up, phone and handbag combos.