Handmade in Poland and featuring an elegant “cruelty-free” badge, Alexandra K.’s gorgeous luxury vegan handbag designs have been on my wishlist for years. Her eye-catching bags with noticeable attention to detail are coveted by fashion-forward vegans across the globe. But the brand doesn’t stop there: they are also a pioneer and advocate for earth-friendly fabrics and manufacturing.
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What made me finally take the plunge? Well, to be totally transparent with you all (which I always am, haha), I’d been on the fence for a while about buying another handbag. As you probably already know, some leather-alternatives are hard-to-recycle or aren’t biodegradable, such as polyurethane or PVC. You see, I had made a vow to myself that any future vegan bags that I purchased need to be at least partially biodegradable or recyclable.
Alexandra K. has ventured into both of these areas with her latest fabric innovations. The ethical vegan bag brand dabbles in recyclable silicone, recycled fibers, and food waste as the base for their ethical and planet-friendly fabrics. Instead of relying on PVC or conventional Polyerathane, Alexandra K. uses a super-safe silicone coating on their eco-PU fabrics. Sturdy plant pulp lends itself to natural durability in their corn, apple, and pineapple-fabric designs.
I have to say, Alexandra K. was experimenting with PU-alternatives well before many other well-known brands jumped into sustainability. Their core values clearly drive their pursuit of environmentally-friendly vegan fabrics.
Thoughtful details and sturdy metal detailing goes into each gorgeous design. I’ve watched this brand grow from a humble, hard-to-find fringe collection to a sought-after, innovative luxury brand in a matter of just a few years. And it’s easy to see why! Especially now that I’ve experienced one of their bags in person. The attention to detail is on-par with the quality you’d expect from the big luxury handbag brands, like Alexander Wang, Celine, Prada, Valentino, or Louis Vuitton.
To drive a more ethical future, we need vegan brands to be as desirable as their non-vegan counterparts. And to ensure vegan brands have staying power, they must keep the environment in mind when it comes to fabric selection.
This is the first red, patterned(!) handbag in my vegan handbag collection. The Alexandra K 1.3 mini packs a visual punch, feels dainty on my arm, and is surprisingly spacious. While this limited edition beauty is no longer in stock, you can browse their latest chic and ethical collection over on Alltrueist.com. I definitely have my eye on some of the corn-leather designs! You would never guess by looking that these pretty accessories originated from cornfields in Italy.
For an in-depth look at the 1.3 Mini, check out my unboxing review on YouTube.