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Headphones by Kibu are designed for kids to assemble and repair

Kids grow fast and could sometimes be better at caring for their belongings. Two good reasons to create products that can easily be adapted and fixed. To that end, circular manufacturing specialist Batch.Works has partnered with London-based creative agency Morrama to form Kibu, a new brand of kids' headphones designed to be easily repaired and recycled.

The headphones' limited number of parts can be assembled and customized by kids, ready to grow along with them. If a wire breaks, a headband no longer fits, or an ear cushion wears out, replacements can be ordered from Kibu. As reported by Design Week, Batch.Works — a 3D design and manufacturing studio with factories in Amsterdam and London — aims to produce parts at multiple locations, as close to its customers as possible.

Morrama and Batch.Works are finalizing the product's design ahead of a launch later this year. No word yet on pricing.

Child with curly blond hair and light green, over-ear headphones

Trend Bite

Over the last half-century, mass-manufactured products became increasingly impossible to repair. Generations of consumers were unable to fix the stuff they owned, and even if a product could be fixed, buying a new replacement was often cheaper and more convenient.

Now, with legislation in different countries nailing down the right to repair, we're seeing an unprecedented shift in consumer dynamics. Today's children could become the first generation to reverse the tide — reclaiming autonomy over their possessions through the ability to replace malfunctioning parts and update outmoded ones. Innovations like Kibu's headphones empower kids to get hands-on while cultivating the expectation that electronics and other goods should be long-lived, not disposable.

12 June 2023

Innovation of the day

Spotted by: Vicki Loomes