 |
| Rose Shoulder Bag |
|
Helen Riegle shares with us her passion for; design inspired by nature, innovative materials and unparalleled attention to detail - all shown to beautiful effect in her new bag collection for fall
Helen tells PK...We’ve rolled out several new styles for Autumn/Winter 06, each inspired by nature and constructed with unparalleled attention to detail to offer supreme organization and flexibility.
Ever wish you could convert your purse to a clutch? Now you can! What’s more, zippered pockets, covering flaps, and magnetic closures provide enhanced security… one less thing for us girls to fret over. Here’s a brief 'need to know' about our new styles. Each bag is featured in shades of orange spice and moss.
• Rose – a petite shoulder bag inspired by folding rose petals
• Iris – an embroidered purse with removable strap (Voila! Your clutch, mademoiselle).
• Honesty – wear this distinctive, multilayered bag messenger-style off or on your shoulder
• Leaf – our original laptop carrier has been made even better
 |
| Leaf Laptop Bags |
|
If you know Helen E Riegle bags, you’ll know our penchant for innovation. We love using novel materials.
For the ecophiles among you, we are introducing two fantastic new fabrics to handbags. The first is Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certified wool. If you don’t know C2C, it offers a way to evaluate products based on their positive effects upon the environment, human health and social equity throughout its lifecycle. As a 'biological nutrient,' our Pendleton Classic Wool Flannel can be safely composted.
For lining material, we are using EcoSpun, a soft, luxurious, colour-fast, yet resilient fabric made from, get this… recycled plastic bottles! EcoSpun keeps millions of bottles out of landfills each year, prevents the release of harmful emissions associated with the manufacture of virgin plastics and negates the need for herbicide and pesticide use in the production of conventional textiles. This really is a big deal.
|  |
| Iris Bag |
|
Finally, for the animal lovers, we are using Ultraleather and Novasuede. Both of these “faux" materials enable us to offer an enhanced aesthetic without causing harm to livestock. Look out for “Iris” in metallic copper to make a particularly big splash this holiday shopping season!
Challenge conventions. Live responsibly. Embrace style.
About Helen Riegle
Helen's collections – unique interpretations of natural objects – retail in select shops from Martha’s Vineyard to Palm Beach. A proud member of Trunkt, an exclusive community of independent designers - she is a design-school graduate originally from England and built a career in the museum and exhibitions industry, managing installations throughout North America, Europe and Australia. Her exposure to diverse social and natural histories and the masterworks of Owen Jones and William Morris have influenced her work.
Helen’s designs complement values just now taking hold in the public – values that elevate personal responsibility and self-awareness above indifference and the latest fad. Consistent with her “green chic” aesthetic and ethical stance, she promotes the use of organic and sustainable materials to deliver captivating products with a conscientious message: You CAN have high style with low impact. Helen has named her brand - HER Design.
HER Design : Stylish & Conscious
HER Design grew from designer and founder Helen E Riegle's strong creative vision and sense of fair play. In celebrating the beauty of natural objects in their products, they accept the responsibility that comes with their actions. So it's through inspired design and careful consideration of both processes and materials used that they offer consumers unique, high-style bags they can feel good about carrying.
Valuing values
The goal for her design and her business alike is to step away from the pack – to drive trends and to encourage a change in conventional thinking by showing the way. She closely examines the way she does business, scrutinizing everything from design and manufacturing to packaging and delivery.
|  |
| Mushroom Bag made from hemp canvas and treetap wild rubber |
|
HER Design:Eco-friendly matters
Organic textiles – like some cotton, hemp and linen fabrics – share many of the same comforting properties that organic foods do. You know where the materials come from: nature. You know that animals have not been harmed in producing them and you know that they’ve been minimally processed. (When you realise that approximately 8,000 chemicals are used in the production, processing and treatment of conventional textiles, this is no small consideration!).
They strive to ensure the textiles they use remain eco-and animal-friendly by opting for eco-sensitive inks, glues and solvents when possible in dyeing, bonding and printing processes. There are easier and cheaper ways to a finished product, to be sure. But they all come with greater costs than we are prepared to accept.
HER Design also uses Treetap® Wild Rubber, sustainably made from renewable resources.
The rich and resilient coating that distinguishes Treetap® from other leather alternatives is derived from wild rubber plants that grow in the Acre region of the Amazon rainforest. There, native communities extract a latex resin they call leite (milk) from the Hevea brasiliensis plant. Once filtered, the latex is combined with an organic additive needed for later stages and painted on stretched cotton canvas sheets.
The coating cures in smoke that rises from small, traditional clay “volcanoes.” After this painting-and-curing sequence has been repeated several times, the sheets are hung and heated in kilns specially adapted for the forest conditions. This last step – vulcanization – enhances the strength of the coating. The resulting color of the Treetap® laminate is a product of a natural chemical reaction between wild rubber, the organic additive, and heat.
By producing Treetap® using traditional, low-impact practices, the communities improve their quality of life without degrading their environment. Plant tappers earn fair-trade wages, and the forested regions in which the plants grow are undergoing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. With the growth of cattle and livestock breeding – activities responsible for rampant forest clearing – and plantation-grown rubber, this represents both a sustainable and viable alternative economic model for hundreds of forest communities wanting to preserve their home and lifestyle.
 |
| Petal Hemp and Treetap Rubber Bag |
|
HER Design's 2% pledge
In addition to contributing numerous bags to fundraising events across the US, they commit two percent of all gross sales to environmental and youth-oriented causes. Rather than spread the money thinly, they have elected to concentrate their giving to support a select few groups who are working to educate, inspire, and incite progressive change.
In a global community, the effects of human activities know no geographic boundaries. The natural resources we consume come from all over, and the pollution we generate, circulates with the wind and water. Therefore, the whole planet has a vested interest in seeing that individuals and the businesses like HER Design, that feed their needs and wants, take responsibility for their impact on the globe. For this reason they seek to support causes on all seven continents.
|
Back to e-zine
