Circular Elegance: Handbags and Purses Leading the Circular Fashion Revolution

Circular Elegance: Handbags and Purses Leading the Circular Fashion Revolution

Introduction

A fashion revolution is underway—one that goes beyond trends and embraces sustainability at its core. The circular fashion revolution is transforming the way we view and interact with our wardrobe, and handbags and purses are taking center stage. In this blog post, we’ll explore how the circular fashion revolution is reshaping the world of accessories, turning handbags and purses into symbols of sustainable style and conscious consumerism.

Circular fashion reacts to traditional, linear fashion

Circular fashion challenges the traditional linear model of “take, make, use, dispose” and promotes a more sustainable approach. It follows the principles of a circular economy, emphasizing the importance of designing, producing, and consuming fashion items with longevity, recyclability, and minimal environmental impact in mind.  

Traditional, linear fashion has been described as follows:

“The continuous cycle of overproduction and overconsumption within this linear system is fueled by aggressive marketing, omnipresent advertising, and the persuasive power of influencers. This creates a culture of impulsive purchasing, enticing consumers with the allure of low prices and the promise of bolstering their sense of personal identity and social acceptance. The linear model significantly contributes to textile waste by encouraging the disposal of [clothing, footwear and accessories] after minimal use or when trends shift. Consequently, these items often end up in landfills, get incinerated, or are sent to developing nations, resulting in numerous environmental and social complications.”  

The fashion industry, notorious for fast fashion and a disposable culture, has been a significant contributor to environmental degradation.  Indeed, “97% of the materials used to to make clothing are brand new, and 73% of these products are incinerated or put into a landfill.”  

It’s not just fast fashion that has a problem with sustainability.   Fashionistas do too.  Here is Hilary Alexander, fashion correspondent, writing in the Sustainable Fashion Handbook:

“Working at the coal face of fashion, as I have for more than 30 years, I freely admit my guilt as a fashion-obsessive.  My crime is a wardrobe stuffed with clothes I never wear and never will wear: handbags and shoes still in their boxes and wrappings; accessories purchased on a fleeting whim and forgotten just as quickly.  At the same time, I treasure certain items: high-street dresses I have owned for twenty years or more and still wear regularly; fading, threadbare Chinese and Rajasthani jackets maybe a hundred years old; tribal jewelry once worn by a bridegroom at a wedding in the High Atlas mountains; accessories handcrafted in the Rift Valley from the bits of an old carburettor.  My wardrobe – like those of many fashionistas – is full of contradictions, much like sustainable fashion itself.”  Hilary Alexander, Sustainable fashion?  In Sandra Grey, The Sustainable Fashion Handbook, page 6, Thames & Hudson 2012.

The circular fashion revolution is a response to the environmental and social concerns associated with the traditional fashion model. It advocates for a shift towards mindful consumption, encouraging consumers to choose quality over quantity and embrace products with extended lifecycles.  

Circular Principles in Handbags and Purses

The core tenets of circular fashion are: designing out waste, keeping products in use and regenerating natural systems. Here are some specific approaches.

Durability and Timeless Design

Circular fashion begins with durable and timeless design. Handbags and purses crafted with durability in mind, using high-quality materials and craftsmanship, have a longer lifespan. Timeless designs also resist the ebb and flow of transient fashion trends, ensuring that the accessories remain stylish over the years.  For example, InStyle says there are 14 Iconic Bags Worth the Investment.  Their prices range from a few hundred dollars to $4,500, and that was for the prices that were listed.  More about price below.  The point here is that – in opposition to fast fashion – certain bags can retain their beauty and style for decades.

Materials with a Purpose

Circular fashion places a premium on the choice of materials. Sustainable, recycled, and upcycled materials are favored to minimize environmental impact. Handbags and purses made from eco-friendly materials, such as organic cotton, recycled polyester, or even repurposed leather, exemplify the circular ethos. 

In a separate blog post, we discuss that the overwhelming majority of bags priced below $50 are plastic, while most bags above $50 are made from natural leather or a few from cotton canvas.  Many bags that are marketed as Vegan Leather are in fact made from plastic (usually polyurethane), albeit with a sophisticated manufacture that makes the bag look and feel like real leather.  Or, at least, sort of like real leather.  Proponents say: “It’s sustainable. On average, producing leather requires 20 times more energy, water, and land use than is required for synthetic alternatives.”  Nevertheless, it’s plastic that persists in the environment for centuries before biodegrading.

Other brands are going further and using biodegradable materials that have been fashioned into a suitable fabric for handbags and purses.  However, many of these fabrics – “pineapple leather”, “apple leather”, etc. – “are actually only partly plant-based. Many of these materials are blended with synthetics – the plant matter dried out and made into a powder which is mixed with polyurethane, or in the case of Piñatex made from pineapple plant leaves (a ~95% plant-based material), coated in a thin layer of bio-resin, made from plasticised plant starch.”  Again, it’s plastic, albeit in lower doses.

Finally, some fabrics are entirely plant based, made from agricultural waste through a sophisticated process that yields a suitable handbag fabric with no polyurethane or other plastic-like substance.  Mirum is a leather-like material made entirely without plastic and certified by the USDA to be 100% bio-content.  The exact content of the mirum product can be different, depending on the requirements of the brand.  Various brands are working with mirum.  For example, Melina Bucher sells the Stella, a stylish vegan mirum envelope bag for $568.  Stella McCartney sells the Falabella MIRUM Tiny Tote Bag for $1,170.  Did Melina Bucher name the Stella after Stella McCartney?

Recyclability and Upcycling

The circular fashion revolution emphasizes recyclability and upcycling as integral components. Handbags and purses designed for easy disassembly and made from materials that can be recycled contribute to the circular model. Upcycled materials, such as repurposed fabrics or reclaimed hardware, add a unique and sustainable touch to accessories.

Etsy offers upcycled handbags, reasonably priced from $25.  Various brands offer handbags from recycled materials.  Outerknown sells its New Life Project X Outerknown Tall Tote for $228, although it was sold out when I checked the website.  This Tall Tote is made from Cordura Eco Fabric, which appears to be recycled polyester.  Cordura is a fabric company that advertises its Cordura Re/cor RN66, “made from 100% post-industrial recycled nylon.”

Take-Back Programs and Second-Hand Markets

Brands embracing circular fashion often implement take-back programs, encouraging customers to return old handbags and purses for recycling or upcycling. Additionally, the rise of second-hand markets and vintage shopping platforms supports the circular economy by giving accessories a second life and reducing the demand for new production.

ConsiderBeyond.com highlights 6 Brands Leading Circular Fashion With TakeBack/Resell Programs in the U.S.  These brands – Mara Hoffman, Outerknown, Another Tomorrow, Re/Done, For Days and Patagonia – all seem to have very good take back or resell programs for clothing.  As I went through their take-back-websites, however, I wasn’t able to find where one could purchase a second-hand handbag through one of these programs. I thought I was getting close with For Days’ “take back bag” program, but that turned out to be the bag that one uses to collect clothing while cleaning out one’s closet, and not a second-hand handbag.

However, consignment sale of second-hand items, including handbags and purses, is well established and pre-dates circular fashion.  The Vestiaire Collective sells second-hand handbags and purses, including a Hermes Herbag Cloth Bag in “very good condition” that was available for $1,723.05, with three offers working, when I visited the website.  Similarly, TheRealReal offers a used Louis Vuitton Monogram Vivienne Holiday Pochette Felicie with tags, said to be in “Pristine” condition, for $1,825.  Both of these are consignment sites where high quality pre-owned handbags can be bought and sold.

Related principles: cruelty-free and fair labor practices

Cruelty-Free Materials

As the fashion industry undergoes a transformative shift toward sustainability, an important facet of this revolution is the commitment to cruelty-free practices. The circular fashion revolution is redefining the way we approach style, emphasizing ethical choices that extend beyond environmental considerations to include the well-being of animals.

A key aspect of cruelty-free circular fashion is the selection of materials that avoid harm to animals. Traditional materials such as leather and fur, which involve the use of animal hides and pelts, are being replaced with sustainable and cruelty-free alternatives. Innovations in materials like plant-based leather (such as mushroom leather or Piñatex made from pineapple fibers) and synthetic alternatives offer stylish and ethical options for handbags, shoes, and accessories.  These are discussed above.

Designer Stella McCartney “uses no fur or leather in her designs.”  McCartney’s Flabella Mini Tote Bag, selling for $1,095, is a “vegan icon”, made of “Shaggy Deer fabric,” which is recycled polyester from “previously loved fabrics.”  As already noted, McCartney is pioneering the use of MIRUM, including with the Falabella MIRUM Tiny Tote Bag for $1,170.

Ethical Manufacturing and Fair Labor

Cruelty-free circular fashion extends beyond material choices to encompass ethical manufacturing practices. Brands committed to the well-being of animals often prioritize fair labor conditions for human workers as well. The circular fashion revolution acknowledges that sustainability must encompass both environmental and social responsibility, fostering a holistic approach to ethical fashion.

The problem is starting to become better known, as described in this article from George Washington University Law School:

“The fast fashion industry employs approximately 75 million factory workers worldwide. Of those workers it is estimated that less than 2% of them make a living wage. This leads to workers living below the poverty line and the European Parliament has even described the conditions of factory workers in Asia as “slave labor”. Many garment workers are working up to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. The textile industry also uses child labor particularly because it is often low skilled, so children can be exploited at a younger age.”  

The article also describes the deadly and high profile incident that brought this issue to the forefront:

“This was demonstrated by the deadliest garment industry accident in modern history in Bangladesh when the Rana Plaza Factory collapsed in 2013 and 1,100 people were killed and 2,500 more were injured. Safeguards on the building had expired and engineers had even recommended the building should be condemned. However, workers were ordered to come in anyway, and they came for fear of not being paid. After this incident, building inspections were done on 1,106 factories used by fast fashion companies and 80,000 safety related issues were found.”  

In the aftermath of this horrific accident in Bangladesh, the more ethical parts of the fashion industry have paid greater attention (or given more publicity) to fair working conditions.

Here’s how leather worker bukvybag.com describes fair working conditions:

“WHAT ARE FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS?

Fair working conditions encompass a range of factors that contribute to the overall status and health of workers in the leather industry. These conditions include fair wages, reasonable working hours, safe and hygienic working environments, and respect for workers’ rights, such as the freedom to form unions. In other words, freedoms and right[s] that many of us have. Fair working conditions also involve ensuring that workers are treated with dignity and respect, free from discrimination and harassment. In short, working conditions that are humane and in line with what you would expect yourself.” 

Fair working conditions come down to the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Consumer Empowerment

The circular fashion revolution places considerable emphasis on consumer empowerment. As consumers become more informed and conscious of their choices, they drive demand for sustainable and circular products. Choosing handbags and purses with circular principles in mind becomes an act of advocacy, promoting responsible consumption and influencing industry practices.

McKinsey & Company says that the COVID 19 pandemic drove consumers online. Fashion retailers have been forced to adopt e-commerce as a primary sales channel.  As part of this trend, online consumers increasingly are aware of environmental and labor issues with the fashion industry.  This awareness leads to expectations that brands will become more environmentally conscious and examine the labor practices in their supply chains.  McKinsey notes:

“While it is yet to be seen whether consumer attitudes will translate into tangible changes in purchasing behaviour, it is certain that the pandemic has amplified public awareness of social injustice in the supply chain.”

Brands and Blogs Leading the Circular Charge

Several fashion brands are at the forefront of the circular fashion revolution, setting new standards for sustainable accessories. Brands like Stella McCartney, which pioneers cruelty-free and sustainable luxury, and Rothy’s, known for creating shoes and bags from recycled plastic bottles, exemplify the possibilities within the circular fashion paradigm.

Bloggers, digital newsletters and other types of Internet publishers are also leading the way by publicizing the circular fashion brands.  This is an important service for consumers and helps to promote circular fashion.  SustainablyChic publishes its directory of Sustainable Handbags & Luggage Brands.  The directory listed 28 brands when I accessed it. 

Price: The Unspoken Dimension in Circular Fashion

As we have discussed, circular fashion is a reaction to “fast fashion.” Reviewing what we already discussed, fast fashion is clothing and accessories made quickly and priced inexpensively to sell fast, be worn a few times and then quickly disposed of, in favor of the next fast fashion.  A key element of fast fashion is low price.  If one rejects fast fashion, does that mean that circular fashion must be more expensive?  It is a truism that “sustainable fashion brands are more expensive than conventional brands.”  This is what we see with handbags and purses from brands in the forefront of circular fashion.  A tour through this blog post and a review of the prices for various purses and handbags reveals only one sales channel – Etsy – with a handbag for sale for less than $50.  (Recall, again, our previous blog post that the overwhelming majority of handbags less than $50 are made of plastic).  Some of the circular-fashion brands mentioned above may have one or two bags for less than $50.  But, the overwhelming majority of circular-fashion handbags sell for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.  Part of this can be explained by a higher cost structure.  MIRUM and other exotic materials cost more than PVC, and fair labor conditions cost more than illegal sweatshops.  

This cost structure reinforces that the $40 WalMart shopper is not participating in the circular fashion revolution.  However, the $40 shopper is important because she represents a large part of the buyer market, and also is responsible for a large part of the landfill that is littered with discarded plastic handbags persisting in the environment for centuries.  When does the circular fashion revolution reach the $40 shopper?

Conclusion

Circular fashion is catching on in fits and starts.  What is needed is for a critical mass of consumers to make buying choices based on sustainability and circularity.  As McKinsey & Company noted, that has not happened yet, but there is a growing consumer awareness.  Meanwhile, brands leading the charge, like  Stella McCartney, and online directories highlighting circularity, like SustainablyChic, keep it in the public eye.