Sustainable Gifts For Christmas | The Most Glamorous Sustainable Handbags
The editor’s picks of the month: a varied amalgam of sustainable items to keep you on the clock with your routine and lifestyle and—as usual—to keep you sustainably in-style. Buy sustainable, stay organic.
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Must-Have Bags For Every Business Woman by AMELI ZURICH
Why to buy: AMELI ZURICH offers high quality and ethically sourced must-have bags that are designed in Switzerland and handcrafted in Italy. The Swiss accessory label puts equal value on design and functionality. Each piece demonstrates that business handbags can be feminine, work-appropriate and sustainable.
AMELI stays true to the aesthetic of its hometown and creates handbags of timeless elegance that are made to last forever. The bags’ classic leather exterior encases a practical interior with a bigger compartment suitable for all 14″ laptops and smaller sections for everything one might need when out and about. To keep up with a fast-paced lifestyle, the straps allow the bags to be worn multiple ways and to be attached to carry-ons.
What we love: After years of compromising on handbags that all failed to be stylish and functional, AMELI ZURICH’s founders decided that it was time for a change. With AMELI, they give us the bag we were missing. All bags are as multifaceted as we are. With its elegant yet practical bags, AMELI wants to empower women to be inspiring, confident and fierce when pursuing their dreams. This mission goes out to all the women of this world and the company encourages female empowerment beyond the perfect business outfit – both by meaningful content and by spending 5% of their profits to NGOs that promote women’s (right to) education.
The new collection captivates us with both timeless and trendy Fall-Winter colors.
Price: 379 € / $449 | Shop it now: AMELI ZURICH
Exquisite, Made-to-Last a Lifetime Bags by MELINA BUCHER
Why to buy: MELINA BUCHER is an innovative, proactive brand creating bags that binds together what for a long time seemed contradicting—ethics and aesthetics. 100% vegan materials and exquisite design are combined into a balanced whole. Each bag is made with the finest, vegan leather, and handcrafted in selected European manufactories that ensure the highest quality and follow ethical standards.
These exclusive bags are part of a timeless collection that seamlessly fit in any wardrobe. They are not a seasonal flirt but a forever-lasting company, as they are made to last a lifetime.
What we love: MELINA BUCHER is redefining luxury. With an emphasis on transparency and sustainability, the brand is pursuing innovative pathways towards social and environmental responsibility. “Our mission is to combine finest craftsmanship and functional design with compassion towards our environment.”—founder Melina Bucher.
The Indy, Trudy and Angel bag embody modern values: self-confidence, empowerment and environmental integrity. They are exclusive accessories for strong personalities who are not afraid to break down invisible boundaries and claim their agency.
Price: 360 € – 990 € / $428 – $1,176 USD | Shop it now: MELINA BUCHER
Bold Bags for Bold People by WEITER UNITED
Why to buy: WEITER UNITED is THE new business bag brand founded by the Designer Anna Bermes. All WEITER bags are handcrafted luxury for men and women who are passionate about design and aesthetics. Manufactured in a family-run factory in Italy’s Veneto region, each item is unique and one of a kind luxury! All products are made of premium Italian and French calf leather and are created with longevity in mind. For WEITER, sustainability is a mindful principle that they incorporate into all aspects of their business. It stands for quality, environmental awareness and responsibility for the people who work for WEITER. This is WEITER’s way of ensuring its professional and ethical values are being fulfilled.
What we love: WEITER’s vision is to free the business world of formality and visual restrictions. To encourage people to outgrow established expectations and to enrich business environments by living out their personality and their individual ideal of a premium business mindset. WEITER is a German brand, designed in Paris and manufactured in a family-run business in northern Italy. This way minimalism from Germany, classic elegance from France as well as passion and excellent workmanship from Italy are being combined. WEITER’s minimal yet expressive approach to design, combined with the highest quality standards in material and craftsmanship, results in long lasting and timeless items to cherish and hold onto as the years pass. The result are luxurious statement pieces for the new era of bold and modern businesspeople of our times, strong in character and attitude and passionately curious to reshape our corporate culture.
Price: 330 € – 800 € / $390 – $945 USD | Shop it now: WEITER UNITED
A Vegan Crossbody with London Looks & Northern Soul by FRIDA ROME
Why to buy: Luxury meets ethical without compromising style—that’s the foundation on which the new brand FRIDA ROME has been built. Their debut handbag, the WEEK/END, is a vegan crossbody sac. Rebel, cool, with a touch of soul, it’s designed and handmade in the punk’s motherland: England. Crafted from soft, cactus leather and smooth microfibre eco-suede, the WEEK/END has the look and feel of a real leather accessory, with merits in durability and sustainability to boot. These rebelliously British, unconventional newcomers, deliver exclusive products via a made-to-order model. Thus, ensuring that wastage and resources are reduced by manufacturing only what they sell; making the WEEK/END a must-have limited-edition.
What we love: The WEEK/END is ‘a Bag, but Better’: sophisticated on the outside and naughty in the inside. The founders—two female friends that became business allies—celebrate women with joie de vivre as the muse of FRIDA ROME. This essence is woven into the WEEK/END’s signature detail: a surprise, erotic story chapter written for women, by women. This hidden detail lies discreetly in the interior lining. Each purchase also comes with a VIP access to the ‘Frida Rome Midnight’, a private webpage that illustrates in full-length a tantalising tale. Last but not least, the WEEK/END can be deconstructed and packed flat into a custom-made dust bag; fitting effortlessly into hand luggage to accompany you on that spontaneous city break. This bag is not just one of a kind, it’s the first of its kind.
Price: Limited availability in Kickstar for £175 /$227 USD / 194 € (original price £255 / $330 USD / 282 €) | Shop it now: FRIDA ROME
Limited Edition, Ring-Bag LUV by SABINE FEUERER
Why to buy: SABINE FEUERER is all about solid statements—felinity, fierceness, passion, style, and a lot of commitment to sustainability. Her designs are authentic, eye-catching, somehow rebellious, and certainly poetic. SABINE FEUERER is the perfect fir for contemporary, defined personalities who consciously make statements through their clothing choice. And it all materialises in the Ring Bag “LUV,” a must-have sac made with recycled wash paper, handcrafted in Germany.
What we love: The S / S 21 LOVE collection is an homage to the LOVE for our planet. This sustainable collection is made with recycled materials fished out from the ocean, and handcrafted with Love. SABINE FEUERER uses the leftovers from the design process to create new products like earrings, belts and little accessories details. An amazing innovative circular approach to sustainable, poetic design.
Price: Limited production made only on demand; pre-order until the end of December | Pre-order it now: SABINE FEUERER
Introducing BEEJ—India’s Youngest Premium Sustainable Accessories Brand
Why to buy: BEEJ is an eco-conscious accessories and lifestyle studio based in Mumbai, India. BEEJ envisions to make sustainability mainstream. From their choice of materials to their packaging, each element in their product is carefully curated to keep sustainability the centre of it.
BEEJ works with a host of eco-friendly materials that are either plant-based leather alternatives, or have been upcycled or recycled from post-consumer yarn. Their materials include cork, Piñatex and Desserto—a leather alternative made from cactus pulp. Being an Indian brand, they also work with some very interesting handloom materials sourced from different regions in India.
Every product is designed in-house and handcrafted by experienced artisans at the studio. Made on demand with minimal waste, mindfulness is at the core of everything they do. Mindful in their choices, ethical in their practices, transparent and accountable with their supply chain, and classic in their designs, these are just some of the reasons to support this young, rising Indian brand.
What we love: The name BEEJ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘seed’—a metaphor for the origin of all forms of life. For the BEEJ team this gets translated as respect for all forms of life. Firmly rooted in the belief that style and sustainability can and must coexist, their mindfully-designed accessories are about the fine balance between the planet and people.
Minimalist in style and innovative in materials, BEEJ perfectly walks the line between mindfulness and fashion. The designer puts it simply, “We are fashion conscious, we just prefer to put conscious before fashion.”
With designs inspired by nature and the beautiful colours that exist within it, BEEJ focuses on functionality and utility as much as they focus on design. It is their curiosity and readiness to experiment with new and innovative eco-friendly materials that truly make them unique.
Price: 46 € – 219 € / $ 53 USD- $ 253 USD | Shop it now: BEEJ
