1) Could you briefly explain the concept behind Lisa Marin?

Lisa Marin is a high end bag brand. We design our bags in Amsterdam and produce them in Italy where we work together with family businesses. All of our materials are vegan and don’t contain heavy toxins that are bad for the skin. We produce small quantities so we never have a big overstock. 

2) What are some of the harsh practices that the that the bags industry specifically has been adopting over the year?

When we think of the production of bags we probably think the bad thing is that animals are killed, but we are okay with that seeing that most cow leather is a bi-product of meat. When actually this is just the beginning. For one, the way animals (especially more exotic animals) are killed is inhuman. It mostly happens with shocks in the worst places possible because they don’t want to leave marks on the animals skin. Secondly when the animals are killed the skin needs to be cleaned and dyed, this process contains toxic chemicals that makes people (most times deadly) sick. These toxic chemicals are also polluting the environment heavily. Research has shown real leather is even more polluting and harmful for people and planet than cheap plastic fake leather you find in fast fashion chains. A greener alternative is vegan ‘’leather’’ made from waste or natural products (like apples) and finished in with a natural dying process.

3) Being the founder of sustainable vegan bags company, have you noticed a shift in the demand for luxury sustainable bags? 

Well yes and no. Yes I get super great responses when I tell people that my bags are made from apple fiber and not real leather but I still see that there is an overall believe in the minds of people that real leather is always better quality. Funnily enough that is not even the case, in the case of the leather I use chances are that it will stay beautiful longer than your average leather bag.

4) What are some simple changes that you’ve implemented in your day to day life to reduce your carbon content?

Off cource as a consumer I do what I can to reduce my carbon footprint as well;

• I maintain a vegan diet
• I Shop second had / from ethical brands
• I buy as little plastic as I can, go to the farmers market for veggies and to a special store in Amsterdam where you can re-fill your jars with things like oats, rice, beans and so on (called little plant pantry)
• I never buy beauty products that are tested on animals and lately I only buy from ethical beauty brands

5) What are some of the hurdles you’ve faced in the process of choosing sustainable options to create this brand?

It was a looonnngg process! Finding the right materials that are of high quality, great design and style and ethical was very hard. But luckily we managed in the end!

6) Are there any recent innovations that you’ve been able to implement during this pandemic?

Well, a whole new collection was born during COVID. I had to wait for my production so I started to design and create bags from organic cotton and recycled materials myself. Inspired on a Japanese technique called Furoshiki the knotted collection was born!

7) Let us know your websites and social media handles so our audience can get to know more about your project.

Website: www.lisamarin.store

Insta @lisamarin.store