British accessories brand the Cambridge Satchel Company has launched a limited edition collection of bags which will raise money and awareness for internationally renowned conservation charity, The Aspinall Foundation.
Whilst this isn’t normally the type of content I share here on HungryCityHippy (fashion blogger I definitely am not), I fell in love with these bags the minute I laid eyes on them – and not just because one of my best friends happened to be head of corporate partnerships for The Aspinall Foundation!
The range of eight new bags from the Cambridge Satchel Co feature an exclusive giraffe print, and 20% of every bag sold will be donated to the internationally renowned animal conservation charity, The Aspinall Foundation.
So what’s so special about these bags?
They’re made to last
Cambridge Satchel bags are the antithesis to fast fashion – I already own a personalised, embossed Cambridge Satchel which I have had for four years; I am pretty sure these little babies last forever.
In fact, the Welsh founder Julie Deane told Wales Online she was inspired to create the Cambridge Satchel Co “because I don’t like disposable society, having things you don’t care about, throwing them away and replacing them. My old school satchel saw me right through school. It did the job and was built to last, whereas all l I could buy for my kids were High School Musical bags the children got tired of, or bags with straps that fell off or you couldn’t clean.”
Deane’s new line of bags carry the same distinctive pattern as the world’s most endangered giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe, inspired by the fact that several of these amazing creatures live at The Aspinall Foundation’s conservation parks in Kent.
They’re ethically produced
Although the bags are made from cow leather – which of course won’t be suitable for vegans and other people uncomfortable with products made from an animal – the hand-tanned leather is carefully sourced from ethical suppliers in Europe.
Deane told Forbes “I know exactly where and who is making the bags. My factory is in the heart of England, and building that manufacturing base is something I’m very proud of. Even when I had a 16,000 bag backlog, I fired an unethical manufacturer rather than work with him – imagine, 16,000 bags on order and firing your manufacturer. I decided the only option was to start my own factory, even though I had zero manufacturing knowledge!”
That factory has also opened its very own shop this year, where leftover leathers are made in to one-off designs, including coasters, bookmarks, and end of line styles – minimising waste as much as possible.
They’ll help The Aspinall Foundation continue their incredible work
I love that the sale of these bags will help The Aspinall Foundation continue their incredible work; managing their two breeding sanctuaries for rare and endangered animals and wherever possible, sending animals born in the parks to protected areas of natural habitat where they can live out their days wild and free.
The Aspinall ‘Back to the Wild’ initiative has already seen an impressive number of animals born at the two Kent parks return to their natural habitats. The list includes Western Lowland Gorillas, Black Rhino, Javan langurs and Gibbons, European Bison and Clouded Leopards – who are not only thriving in the wild now, but are also successfully breeding.
Slow fashion, that helps to save endangered species, created by a fierce female, Welsh entrepreneur? I’m totally sold.
To purchase one of the limited edition Rothschild bags (with 20% going directly to The Aspinall Foundation), go to: cambridgesatchel.com/collections/introducing-the-aspinall-giraffe-collection
