AROS STUDIO – Eco Friendly bags

Our current society does not lend itself to being eco-friendly and so brands that are striving to do this like AROS STUDIO have a hard (but very worthwhile) mission. Being eco-friendly is being consciously minded and living sustainably to the best of our ability. Sustainability is all to do with longevity, it means creating a world that will support itself going forward. AROS STUDIO founder Kauri having lived around the world in both in London (England) and Guangzhou (China) has personally seen and felt the impact of our consumerist society across the planet which has driven her passion to promote a more conscious culture within buyers, designers, and makers worldwide.

There are plenty of ways to make fashion accessories such as bags more sustainable. These include analyzing the production process by doing this companies can ascertain the social and environmental impacts they are having and make changes to make their workflow less harmful to people and the planet.
Within the social category, all companies should be ensuring that their workers are paid fairly and are working in ethical conditions globally. Ethical working conditions mean that employees are only being given reasonable hours with a good amount of breaks and that the workspace is a safe space for their physical and mental wellbeing.

When looking at the environmental category this really needs tailoring to the specific product or service a company offers. For bags it can mean things like material sourcing, and what happens at the end of the product’s lifecycle.
Currently many fashion bags are made from synthetic leathers such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), this material releases chlorine based toxic chemicals during its production, use and disposal. These toxins build up in our water and air and so are fed through into the food chain. Greenpeace state that “PVC is the single most environmentally damaging plastic of all”.

When designing with aesthetics, quality and durability in mind real leather was the only option for AROS STUDIO who are now challenging the status quo with their sustainable leather goods.

Natural leather is a by product of the meat industry so by using this AROS STUDIO is giving what would have been wasted an extra life and completely removing the environmental cost of creating a new material. Kauri strives to create products that consumers will love and wear often; the material choice of leather enhances this as it is both a beautiful, rich-feeling material and is incredibly durable when looked after.

By using leather AROS STUDIO minimizes consumer’s need to buy new products and increases the wear of those bags, this means that the cost-per-wear of the items are reduced dramatically. Taking this one step further the brand offers a recycling program for existing clients. Once they are ready to move on from their existing AROS STUDIO bag they can return it to the company and select a design which their old bag will be made into. This recycling dramatically reduces product waste which is a huge issue for the fashion industry.