Japan’s ethical hand bags protect the planet and traditional craftmanship

Recently, many people look for sustainable and ethical fashions. Among the various sustainable fashion options, vegan fashion is becoming on-trend globally, and Japan is no exception.

Some may think animal-free materials limit the design or quality standards they are familiar with, but this isn’t necessarily true. A Japanese ethical fashion brand, FUMIKODA produces animal-free bags with high-end luxury designs!

Luxury design and low environmental impact with traditional Japanese craftsmanship

FUMIKODA has started to create functional and luxury designer bags for business use. They maintain the quality of each material while minimizing the environmental load.

Japanese craftsmanship is key throughout the production process. The bags are manufactured entirely in Japan, and all the materials and parts are produced domestically as well. The brand’s main material is vegan leather. This high-quality artificial leather has a similar texture to real animal hide. Craftsmen reproduce the unique texture by applying the same processing as animal leather. Moreover, artificial leather is lighter than real leather, making their bags easier to carry around.

The turquoise blue metal fitting is a unique characteristic. The traditional techniques, which involve creating a chemical reaction with copper and natural ingredients such as sake and rice vinegar, express the beautiful color. Surprisingly, this technique was traditionally applied to coloring statues of buddha and temple bells.

Parts of their products resembling turtle shell are instead made from cotton and pulp. These parts are hand-made by skilled craftsmen, so each has unique patterns. On the other hand, conventional plastic turtle shell substitutes can not express luxurious gloss and clarity as well as FUMIKODA’s vegan shell.

FUMIKODA has created sustainable women’s fashion items to empower working women as well. The brand also currently produces many genderless items to promote diversity.

Minimize waste by upcycling, reusing and recycling

FUMIKODA cares for not only their products but also reducing waste in production and consumption. In fact, they strive to minimize the waste with three projects.

1. Upcycling scraps of vegan leather into other items such as cord bands, bag charms and coin purses.
2. Collecting unwanted FUMIKODA items from users and giving them away to students. The project supports students by donating second-hand items. Approximately half of Japanese college students have student loan debt and need financial support. To help address this, FUMIKODA second-hand donations offer high quality and environmentally-conscious items for free.
3. Creating T-shirts made from clothes that would otherwise be thrown away. The project aims to achieve a circular economy in cooperation with JEPLAN. The new recycling technology that JEPLAN developed allows clothing to be recycled any number of times.

Since FUMIKODA launched in 2016, they continue to innovate better practices for the environment and society. It is necessary that consumers feel comfortable when trying to build more sustainable living. Ethical brands like FUMIKODA support customers to realize a lifestyle that cares for the environment, society and themselves.