Cult-favorite indie brand Mansur Gavriel launched with just two simple silhouettes, a Bucket Bag and a Tote Bag, with the goal of providing a well-crafted, beautifully made bag of quality leather that was simple and available at a reasonable price. Their brand signifier has always been simplicity, offering bags with no hardware, studs, or frills. The brand’s beloved Bucket Bag made waves when it debuted, selling out instantaneously and leaving handbag lovers worldwide itching to snag one of their own.
Now, ten years after the Bucket Bag first hit the scene, finding its way onto the arms of fashion insiders, celebs, and handbag lovers around the world, founders Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel are introducing a new kind of Bucket Bag, one that is both sustainable and 100% vegan.
The Inagural Collection
After nearly two years of research and evaluation, the brand’s founders settled on 100% vegan apple leather from Northern Italy. Of course, Mansur Gavriel’s House staple Bucket Bag was the perfect silhouette for the brand’s first vegan collection, though there are plans to introduce new shapes for Spring/Summer 2023 and beyond.
Apple leather is produced through coagulation, which replaces 50% of fossil derivatives with 50% of product that comes from apple peels and cores. The discarded waste comes from leftovers used to make Italian juices, jams, and other foods. The scrap fibers are dried, dehydrated, and made into a powder that can be flattened and rolled out. The new material is then hand-crafted by Mansur Gavriel artisans in Italy. The process results in a sustainable yet luxe leather alternative that is durable, waterproof, and vibrantly holds color.
“The apple is a beautiful, pure fruit from nature. Our apple leather is waterproof and durable, with a rich hand feel and vibrant color.”
A Comittment to Innovation
Since Mansur Gavriel’s inception, innovation has been at the forefront of its brand ethos. This collection represents the continued commitment of Mansur Gavriel and its founders to find new ways of reducing the fashion industry’s impact on the environment. We spoke to the founders to learn more about this new initiative.
Purse Blog: As more consumers care about sustainability while also focusing on the waste of the byproducts from other alternative leathers, how did you come up with apple leather and how is it different from other options?
We have always been interested in longevity of design – in terms of both quality and aesthetic, but we have yet to experiment with sustainable materials. Throughout our research we came across Italian apple leather, and we loved the idea of working with a sustainable material that derives from nature itself.
In the northern region of Italy, a large amount of apples are grown to become juices, jams, and other food-based products. The seeds, stalks, and skins of the apples can’t be used, so our tannery is able to repurpose these parts into a vegan leather material. We found it to have the same durability, qualities, and feel of our classic bags, and we really love that we’re able to offer our customers more choice in this iconic shape.
PB: 10 years after the Bucket Bag was launched, what is the biggest thing you’ve learned growing a business that started off with arguably one of the biggest it-bags of the last decade?
Once you grow, it’s hard to keep the focus – taking the time to free yourself up from all the daily business and go deep into your vision- that is the hardest yet the most interesting thing to accomplish.
PB: What’s next for Mansur Gavriel?
This year is a very exciting year for us as we have our 10 year anniversary coming up! We will be celebrating it in the fall. In addition, we are very excited about some upcoming collaborations and sustainable developments we have in the pipeline.
Pricing and Availability
The Apple Leather Bucket bag launched yesterday and is available now exclusively on MansurGavriel.com. The four initial colorways are Black/Flamma, Camello/Sun, Jade/Jade, and Dusty Rose/Rosa, all reminiscent of the Bucket Bags from the early days of Mansur Gavriel, with a new sustainable twist. Discover more now and purchase via $495 via Mansur Gavriel.
