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A messenger bag made from recycled inner tubes

by JOHN MURAWSKI

RALEIGH -- The chic carrying bags seen in fashion magazines are stitched together from swatches of snake skin or alligator hides.

Bending the rules for the eco-conscious era, a Raleigh entrepreneur is assembling reptilian-looking bags from sources with greater mobility: used bicycle inner tubes and airplane seat covers.

Matthew Mahler, who lives in Raleigh, got the idea for making recycled bags a few years ago while browsing through a technology magazine. The possibility of turning flaccid rubber innards into eco-fashion statements tapped into a deep urge.