Loewe releases sustainable handbag made entirely of surplus leather

The Spanish luxury fashion house- Loewe has launched a new sustainable handbag which is made entirely from surplus materials left from previous collections.

Under the name ‘Surplus Project’, these bags are created using strips cut from the brand’s excess calfskin leather. The smooth and soft-grained leather strips are braided together alternatively as one piece in a lattice formation. Using the simple, traditional basket weaving technique, the strips are stitched together by hand before adding the calfskin handles and a Loewe embossment.

The brand said that The surplus project is a display of how to use excess material of previous collections to re-use, re-think and re-create something beautiful. In this new project, the 2 most iconic of Loewe’s leathers were given a new lease of life as woven basket bags and a crab charm which are a smooth, classic calfskin, and a finely textured, soft-grained calfskin.

‘The surplus project’ follows the recent Eye/LOEWE/Nature collection which was created using a variety of recycled, upcycled, and organic textiles. The bag costs around 1,700 euros and is a step forward in the label’s journey of becoming more sustainable.