May I present The Hemptress

Arlene Nilsson has been designing handbags since 2001, designing for various handbag companies including BCBG, Zina Eva, Rough Roses, Reveal Bags and others. Nilsson is no stranger to the fashion industry; she is a graduate of Fashion Institute of Technology and has lived in Paris, London, New York, Gothenburg, and Los Angeles, picking up on fashion aesthetics along the way. After the realization, during a particular design project, that it took two lambs to create one bag, she set out to create Eco-friendly, sustainable and fashionable handbags. The Hemptress™ seed was planted.

After three years of nurturing, Hemptress™, Inc. launched in January, 2010. Hemptress™ is a contemporary fashion handbag and accessory brand from Los Angeles, who’s bags are primarily made out of hemp. ‘Hemp is an amazing plant…’ says Nilsson. Hemp can grow up to 15 feet tall in three months with very little water and requires little or no pesticides. Many of the Hemptress™ pieces have bonded repurposed leather trim. Made from scrap leather, blended with cotton and denim, giving more of a supple-hand, as seen on one this years top-five finalist for the InStyle IHDA ‘Best Green Handbag.’ They are all luxuriously lined with a silk/hemp blend lining. The Vegan collection, Sonya, is lined with 65%hemp/35%recycled recycled plastic bottles or PET. Every detail, purposeful and thought out down to the zipper. The highest quality zippers are from recycled sources. The interior zippers are from recycled nylon and the smooth external zippers are of the very highest quality metal. ‘A bag is only as sustainable as its zipper’ says Nilsson.

These fashion-forward and Eco-friendly bags and clutches are manufactured with every effort of leaving the smallest carbon footprint. The hangtags, business cards, and collateral are printed on recycled paper with soy ink. Even the shipping boxes, from GreenShipping.com, are made from 100% post consumer waste. The brand’s commitment to the earth and surrounding communities includes donating a portion of their profits to an animal rights group as well as Vote Hemp. The Hemptress™ equally focuses on trend analysis, so these fashion-forward bags are doubly sustainable and will stay stylish for years to come.