2007 Archives: Ecoist: Eco-Friendly, Recycled Handbags and Fashion Accessories
We first fell in love with Ecoist’s gigantic portfolio bags, which are the most perfectly sized, laptop-friendly work briefcases that just happen to be made from brightly colored candy wrappers folded and assembled by fair-trade workers in Mexico.
And then they did those awesome chainmail-inspired bags from recycled aluminumt tabs, which supported Brazilian women’s cooperatives and made us feel like throwing them on our heads and trying to inspire a remake of “Excaliber.”
So the move into partnerships with brands like Luna had us worried that Ecoist was focusing more on product placement and less on fabulous accessories. But the more we looked at the latest collection with Coca-Cola, the more convinced we were that Ecoist is sticking to its fashion-forward guns.
Carrying a Coke bag definitely says something, but with the twists and turns these repurposed labels take in becoming the bag, that message is more of a Warhol-esque wink and nod than a straightforward, all-American, cheerleader-at-the-football-game Coca-Cola smile.
And Ecoist is still resolutely eco- and socially-conscious at every step of the game: The misprinted or discontinued labels are rescued from the landfill and assembled at a fair-trade production center in Peru, and the company plants a tree for every Ecoist bag sold.
