Engen Xtreme turns lubricant packaging waste into fashion collection

SOUTH AFRICA – Engen has unveiled Engen Xtreme Kouture, a fashion collection that transforms discarded lubricant packaging and recycled corporate clothing into garments.

The collection was unveiled at Heat on the Street at Kwamagesh Spinning Arena earlier in October, bringing together automotive culture, sustainable design and fashion using materials including lubricant bottles, bottle caps and repurposed workwear. 

The initiative forms part of Engen Xtreme’s Beyond Oil platform, which explores recycling and opportunities to create value beyond the brand’s core products. 

Melissa Graham, Engen Lubricants marketing manager, said that what was normally regarded as waste could become a resource when imagination was applied, adding that the aim was not to make garage clothing look fashionable but to acknowledge that the garage already had fashion, identity and attitude of its own.

Chicago-Based South African Designer Led Collection

Engen commissioned Carlo Gibson, a Chicago-based South African artist, fashion designer and activist, to develop the collection, drawing on his work in sustainability, recycling and upcycling. 

Rather than imposing an entirely new aesthetic on the motoring community, the designs take cues from visual identities already established around customised cars, spinning, tuning and workshop culture. 

Gibson said car culture had always contained fashion, noting that the way people customised a car, the colours they chose, the stance, wheels and detailing represented self-expression, much as street fashion worked.

Internship and Local Seamstresses Support Skills Development

The project incorporates a skills-development component. 

A fashion design intern worked alongside Gibson throughout garment creation, gaining practical experience in developing and producing a collection. 

Local seamstresses supported manufacturing, creating opportunities to invest in craftsmanship, skills and livelihoods alongside the creative concept. 

Gibson said sustainability in fashion was not about finding a perfect solution but about making more considered choices and extending the life of materials and garments, adding that fashion had spent years convincing people that newness was the point, and that longevity might now be the more radical idea.

Brand Extends Sustainability Focus Beyond Packaging Disposal

For Engen, the project broadens the sustainability conversation beyond lubricant packaging disposal to consider the wider ecosystem surrounding its business, including workshops, independent mechanics and communities. 

Graham said sustainability had to work in the real world, which meant looking at the entire ecosystem surrounding the brand, from packaging and workshops to mechanics, education and waste. 

The collection will feature at further events across South Africa during the remainder of 2026 and into 2027.

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