Good stuff
People, happenings and things, locally and abroad, that we applaud.
A stunning collab
Christchurch-based Trade Aid product developer Emma Price has the coolest job and one of her latest projects to materialise is a range of handbags she helped design. The range features casually sophisticated soft leather handbags and wallets designed with the Kiwi consumer in mind. The project was a collaboration between Trade Aid and EMA (Equitable Marketing Association), an artisan co-operative based near Kolkata, India. Price spent months working alongside the leather artisans who work with EMA to create these styles. Careful consideration was given to detailing, practical usefulness and high-quality, sustainably sourced leather.
Trade Aid obtains most of its leather from West Bengal, where the leather is renowned for its superior quality. The leather is purchased from well-known tanneries, who mainly specialise in the manufacture of eco-friendly leathers and restrict the use of chemicals that are harmful to either humans or the environment.
Deadly Ponies goes vegan
Covetable accessories brand Deadly Ponies can now cater to vegan fashionistas with the launch of its newest and most innovative collection, Cactus. The range, which has been two years in the making, is made from plant-based nopal textile, a newly developed cactus leather. “Customers have been asking us for a while to create a vegan product,” says Deadly Ponies creative director Liam Bowden. “This is something we have wanted to achieve, but have faced a number of challenges finding a leather alternative. Most vegan leathers are produced using synthetic materials that don’t biodegrade, are produced with toxic chemicals and require higher water consumption in the manufacturing.” Deadly Ponies has found a solution in nopal textile, which is a by-product of the pharmaceutical industry (the cactus pulp is used for medicinal purposes). Sourced from an organic cactus plantation in Mexico, only the mature leaves are harvested to ensure sustainable plant regeneration. It took Deadly Ponies a year of development to achieve a plant-based leather that is similar in look and feel to the classic leather finishes that the brand is known for.
Vintage bespoke
Silk and Steel’s Sarah Cotterall has breathed new meaning and life into vintage pieces to celebrate the jewellery brand’s 10th anniversary and the result is a beautiful thing. Handmade bespoke pieces using vintage elements were the beginnings of Silk and Steel. With the brand’s 10th anniversary coinciding with the COVID-19 era, Cotterall was inspired to go back to the brand’s roots to create this limited-edition collection. Each piece is one of a kind, features a vintage centerpiece, and is recreated by Cotterall into body harnesses and chokers, or partnered with feathers, beads and chains, weaving the past with modern-day stories.
Trading old for new
Luna & Rose has been working with recycled metals since its inception so its recent Golden Giveback Project was the next logical step for the sustainable jewellery brand’s founder Rosie Shelton. Over a six-week period from July to August 2020 people could recycle their old jewellery by putting it into Luna & Rose’s closed loop production and received vouchers to spend in the online store. As a result Luna & Rose were inundated with people sending in jewellery from all over the world. “The response was so encouraging that we will definitely be repeating this opportunity every 6-12 months for people to be able to return and recycle any of their jewellery with us,” says Shelton. Luna & Rose plan to do it all again in March 2021 so watch this space.