Sustainability with style

“We want to show people sustainable home goods do not compromise on style.” Johanna Chan, Co-founder of sustainable handbag fashion brand RIL CREED said.

Photo: RIL CREED

RIL CREED designs and produces fashionable handbags by using upcycled leather and sustainable materials from factories. Recently, it collaborated with the international award-winning design studio, OPENUU, to create a range of home goods. The AMBER HOME collection uses existing handbag making techniques, leather offcuts, and upcycled materials.

OPENUU and RIL CREED first came together for an interior design collaboration on the RIL CREED’s flagship store. After learning more about RIL CREED, both teams see how human activity, especially the design and fashion industry, produces waste, and the impact it has on our planet.

Photo: RIL CREED

The team approached the collabo%ration project with critical, responsibility, and possibilities to repurpose the existing offcuts. This allowed them to reevaluate the process of design vs manufacturing, raw material vs wastage, and consumption vs production. Up to 50% of natural leather hide is wasted and often destined for landfill, and up to 95% of the textiles that are land filled each year could be recycled.

Johanna Chan, Co-founder of RIL CREED

Photo: RIL CREED

Johanna continued, “As designers and producers, we aim to be sustainable, while breathing new life by using brand new and unused leather offcuts. The offcuts are genuine italian leather and beautiful fabrics generated from the factory’s production cycle. By repurposing, we are able to utilize handbag making techniques and expertise to produce new product lines. Creating new fabric and leather combination, giving their own personality.”