When Is a Vegan Bag a Vegan Bag?
Posted on | December 7, 2009 | Comments Off
As some of you will know, we’ve recently had some trouble because one of our suppliers told us that their bags actually had some animal products in them. They didn’t have to tell, us but they did because they are good people who really care about these things. This was because they’d found that the glues and dyes used in bag-making were not vegan-sourced, and couldn’t be so (because the bag manufacturers can’t afford to change for just one client). We were pretty fed up because we loved all our suppliers’ bags and didn’t want to lose one of them.
Still, we researched into alternative bag suppliers. What we found was shocking. Almost all bags that are made for sale in the UK are bound to contain exactly the same animal products EVEN WHEN THE BAG ITSELF PURPORTS TO BE VEGAN. I’m not going to spell out what I’m saying, but it was quite a shock to us. We had thought that it would be easy to find a 100% pure vegan bag maker who made traditional handbags, but it was not. You know, handbags that look like the might be leather (but are actually really gorgeous non-leather that’s lighter and funkier 
If you know of a supplier of really nice handbags (something like a Prada bag) that are fully 100% vegan, please tell us!
Although it was easy to find bags made of nylon, or PVC or something else non-animal, we found that they all were made in a similar way, in similar factories, using the same techniques, and therefore using animal-based glues and dyes. So, we had a choice:
EITHER: only sell re-cycled, hand-made bags (our current dA-LaTA, Neumatica, PlanetSilverchilli and E&KO bags), and not sell normal handbags.
OR: sell normal handbags that contained non-vegan glues and dyes.
Initially, we tended to the first option, but then we realise that this would mean many people would just go and buy a leather bag if they wanted something like an special handbag, since they had no choice. So, we’ve gone back to our troubled supplier because we KNOW they care about promoting a vegan lifestyle – as someone related to their company said today:
“I follow a vegan diet myself at home and clearly understand and support this
further evolved aspect of preserving & caring for animals’ lives. However,
when the majority of the public consume meat, sometimes trying to explain
veganism to them is like introducing yourself as an alien! Animals are
slaughtered because people consume meat & wear leather not because we need
glues & dyes. So I think the first port of call is to highlight the
benefits of reducing our consumption of the primary product of animal
farming and worry about glues & dyes further down the line, as public
opinion also shifts a little towards it.”
In other words, “let’s get rid of the major problem first, then we can focus on the other issues later.” Imagine if everyone in the UK only bought leather-free bags. Suddenly, there would then be an irresistible force to remove all animal products from all bags. And before we ever reached even 10% of that goal, things would become much much easier to argue. So, we’re working towards totally animal-free gorgeous handbags in this way. Some of you may not agree with us, and we respect that, but that’s what we’re choosing to do, and we think – overall – it will help achieve really useful long-term goals.