Talk about doing good for the holidays. This year, the folks at the ad agency Taxi developed a new coat for those left out in the cold. The secret to buffering against freezing temperatures—newspaper.

The idea came from Executive Creative Director, Steve Mykolyn in response to a call on creatives for ideas to celebrate Taxi’s 15th anniversary. Dubbed the “Below 15 Project”, the agency is coordinating design, production and distribution of the coats, all at it’s own cost (production will begin at SG WICUS Vietnam with distribution to around 3,000 homeless people).

Created in tandem with designer Lida Baday, the coat is made of a fabric called Aquamax, which can double as rain gear, can be folded up for use as a pillow, is breathable and flame retardant. But the best part: the insulation is balled up newspaper. That’s right, fill it up yourself (it only takes approximately 2-3 minutes) and you’re ready for freezing temperatures.

Mykolyn tested it out himself in a meat freezer where he sat (did jumping jacks and listened to his iPod) for over eight hours with the temperature as low as -29 degrees Celsius. Apparently the employees at the meat packing plant were betting against him (I wonder if he won anything).

“When I got there they had a full blown pool going, with everyone participating. It was kind of intimidating, because these guys work there everyday, they wear arctic gear, two toques, mittens, boots, two giant heavy coats, dungarees, and there I was with this polyester coat stuffed with newspaper.”

You can watch the test video here.

But as inspiring as the design is, the idea behind it might be even more so. “It’s a really nice piece of clothing; it’s something that anyone could wear,” says Mykolyn. “In a perfect world, homeless people and others would be wearing the same coat.”

via Creativity