Bag designed to protest waste chooses real leather for sustainable trim
In selecting a material for the trim for her new anti-plastic-waste bag, designer Anya Hindmarch said she chose leather because the alternatives contain high-levels of polyurethane.
The latest creation from the renowned bag designer’s eponymous brand is the I’m a Plastic Bag bag, which is woven from a yarn made of plastic bottles. Each bag is made from a cotton canvas-feel fabric that is created from 32 half litre recycled plastic bottles, then coated with recycled windscreens.
For the bag’s trim, the design team considered using vegan or recycled leather. However, said Ms Hindmarch, “after much research and advice we came to the conclusion that responsibly-sourced leather was the best material as the alternatives we found contain high-levels of polyurethane.”
The leather is sourced from a Northern Italy tanner that’s gold-rated by the Leather Working Group, offers tractability of the European skins and assures that the leather hasn’t contributed to deforestation.
The bag is part of a collection through which Ms Hindmarch is drawing attention to the eight billion tonnes of plastic on the planet. “When you throw a piece away, there is no away,” she said. She called the collection a “small step towards reusing what we already have”.
