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The "lightbulb" moment for Beth Cosmos came on the final day of a festival in the summer of 2016, when she looked out at a field covered in abandoned tents.

Each year in the UK, revelers abandon more than 200,000 tents, with each groundsheet and nylon casing, along with their poles, destined for landfill.

And that fateful morning Beth, 27, saw a way to bring together two of her passions – fashion and sustainable living.

Beth had just completed a fashion design degree at the University of South Wales. Her dissertation had been on the relationship between the fashion industry and sustainability.

(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

“I had been working on the festival scene every summer during university, on the creative crews at a number of festivals in the UK,” explained Beth.

“I woke up in a tent and looked out at the barren wasteland that was the post-festival field, with hundreds or thousands of tents left, and there I was thinking of a more sustainable way to make clothes.

“I thought, ‘These are waterproof and are going to waste’. So I brought a few back home with me and bits of tents were cut up all over the kitchen table. I still have it, the first few trials.”

The mission, now, for Beth’s business – named Billygoats & Raincoats “because I like goats” – is to rescue every discarded festival tent and give it new life.

(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

It was only in the summer of 2018 that Beth quit her job to go full-time with her business.

The Billygoats & Raincoats online shop just went live in December, so it is still very early days for the company, but Beth is already finding the demand is there.

She has a silent business partner who decided to support her after she sold him a coat for his child.

He asked her why she wasn’t doing it for a living, and she explained she knew how she wanted to get away from the kitchen table but didn’t have the funds.

He was able to provide Beth with space in a unit in Tremorfa that has enabled her to really get the business off the ground.

The next step is relocating to west Wales. This will enable Beth to bring the business into her home – and also has the added bonus of having her loyal chihuahua Zappa working with her.

“I lived just outside Newport in Pembrokeshire after I graduated and when I was first doing the coats,” said Beth.

Personal reasons brought her back to south-east Wales, but Beth believes that the west will be the ideal place to run the business.

“I really enjoyed living there,” she explained. “[There’s a] nice arts scene, good vibe, nice slower pace of life, better quality of life, and cheaper of course.”

(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne) (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

While the design studio will be out west with her, the factory making the Billygoats & Raincoats garments will be located in the Valleys.

Beth, who is originally from Abertridwr, Caerphilly, is keen to keep all parts of the business in Wales.

“I am passionate about reviving the Welsh textiles industry, and so all of my collection is also made in Wales, and that’s something I’m very proud to be able to say because not many brands can say that, certainly not many start-ups,” she says.

At present Beth is focusing on coats for children aged two to nine, but in time she hopes to expand the range. She has ambitions for adult coats and splash suits for children.

First, she will build the brand, and this week Beth is in Paris.

“I am hoping to make connections with more lifestyle stores that I would like to get into,” said Beth.

“I think we are so niche in that we make clothing for children aged two to nine, with them being made in the UK, not a lot of brands can say that, while also being responsible and sustainably sourced.”

No two coats from Billygoats are alike, but at present there are two ranges – Brecon and Mor.

The Brecon coats feature a triangle pattern design to represent mountain peaks, while the Mor (Welsh for “sea”) are predominately blue.

(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne) (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)

Buyers of the coats get one year of free repairs, and Beth hopes to create a method that allows coats to be returned and repurposed after a child grows out of them.

While trying to get into the lifestyle stores, Beth is also gearing up to hit the festival circle – bringing the tents full circle.

“I am speaking with a number of UK festivals at the moment,” said Beth. “There are a few I have my eye on more than others, that I think we will sit really well at.

“Part of the issue with festivals is they don’t want to be seen as promoting leaving tents behind, but that is certainly not what I am doing here.

“I am making use of that, but that happens already.

“The fact I am selling them back to festivals is because it often rains at festivals and there are children there, plus there is no getting around where they come from.”

If you are worried that the coats might be “clammy”, being made out of old tents, Beth explains they are breathable and all a loose, boxy fit.

“All the lining is breathable waterproof rip stock. We buy in the lining – it is only the outer shell which is from a tent, the layer next to the skin is not going to sweat at all. And then there is no elastic on the cuff, around the waist and there is no elastic anywhere but a little bit on the side of the hood.

“The purpose is to keep the rain off, but it is meant to be layered up underneath.”

Beth is now looking for a second round of funding, but first, she is looking west and finding the new home and studio for her and the business.