Tilde.Industries – a local innovative business bringing beauty to tech – have created robot butterflies, or “bot-terflies”, to feature as fashion accessories at the upcoming Sustainable Fashion Show, hosted by Cherwell Collective at Blenheim Palace. 

These tiny bots can be linked together in hubs to a power source much like a radio microphone. The prototype was used to guide Cherwell Collective’s team in identifying appropriate materials and creating suitable butterflies out of waste to fit on the tiny mechanical frame (bottom right). 

Cherwell Collective’s line for the Sustainable Fashion Show, the first to come out of our newly launched Fashionhouse, was designed and assembled by a team of over 10 creatives led by Naomi Bridges and Karen Simson. Their Carbon Cost of Fashion work is a part of the countywide climate resilience partnership lead by Cherwell Collective: Waste Innovation Station Hubs (aka WISH, funded by the The National Lottery Climate Action Fund). 

The bot-terflies are fashion accessories that highlight the importance of balancing nature with technological advances. Such advances can have unforeseen consequences including lack of autonomy, natural resource depletion, and of course, mountains of waste. 

The collaboration between Tilde.Industries and Cherwell Collective was supported by Oxford University Development (OUD), who showcase innovation at their fourth annual Science Wonder Garden Party at Oxford University Science Park, Begbroke. Co-hosted by Cherwell Collective and sponsored by OUD, the garden party welcomes community members to see first hand the incredible innovations at the science park and beyond. The visibility opens doors for future opportunities like the current fashion collaboration. 

Photo: OUD

Cherwell Collective’s team pushes the boundaries of upcycling materials, in this case by incorporating obsolete tech waste into fashion. The vision is to find new reuse streams for household waste items that are common, but difficult to recycle.  Using collective creativity to drive circularity of waste enables future climate resilience. We believe that those attending the fashion show will be very impressed not only with the luxury but also with the practicality of our designs.

Our team has experimented with multiple forms of commonly wasted household items in order to create practical, beautiful, and functional bot-terflies. 

This is the second year in which Cherwell Collective has collaborated with Begbroke and robotics tech to create fashion. We are thrilled that Anna Strongman, OUD CEO, can witness the bot-terflies’ inaugural flight down the runway as a distinguished VIP guest this year.  Other VIP guests include Calum Miller MP, who cut the ribbon at Fashionhouse in June, and Deputy Lieutenant Robert Buckeldee, a long-time supporter of Cherwell Collective’s climate innovation and leadership. 

From our 2025 Sustainable Fashion runway, Darius is wearing a cape made with lining made from a sheet. The decorations on the lining were made by robots and the activity that helped create it was part of the Science Wonder programme with Oxford University Development and Oxford University Science Park, Begbroke. These robots were assembled by children at the 2025 May Half Term family science day collaboration between OUD and Cherwell Collective. A crown of spectacles and a vest of ties completes the ensemble.  

Time is running out to see the bot-terflies in action. Limited tickets remain and can be purchased here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cherwellcollective/2071027