Meet Black Moon – The Australian Brand Creating Sustainable Luxury Handbags

Kira Simpson

This Fashion Revolution Week, I want to share a new Australian accessories brand, Black Moon.

Black Moon bags are the perfect mixture of thoughtful design and timeless luxury. The brand’s style and ethos is defined by the desire to create beauty, consciously.

Who Made My Bag?

Black Moon’s bags are designed in Sydney by founder and designer Amy, who translates her beliefs into beautifully constructed bags.

ethical handbag

"Born out of the desire to create beauty, consciously."

Amy wants to help make the accessories fashion industry more ethical and support Australian manufacturing. Helping to revive an almost lost industry. She maintains the idea that real luxury is knowing where and how a product is made – and by whom. Without sacrificing quality and style.

Each bag is made from cow leather, pasture raised in New Zealand by the ANZCO Group who adhere to to a strict animal welfare guideline. The straps on the bags are made from wild Kangaroo leather from  New South Wales tanned locally in a Sydney tannery.

The leather hides are vegetable tanned by a New Zealand tannery established in the 1950’s. The tannery is the only wet blue to finished leather, bovine tannery in Australasia; this gives full control to the tannery for the entire process.  Water-based products are used during tanning so that no VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) are emitted into the atmosphere.

Finally each bag is handmade in Melbourne by husband and wife team Guy and Lee, who have run their small, family owned factory for over forty years. You can read their story at the end of this post.

ethical handbag

ethical handbag

ethical handbag
ethical handbag

"At Black Moon we give customers the opportunity to choose a luxe accessory with an ethical conscience."

ethical handbag

ethical handbag

Meet the designer

 

Meet the makers

Black Moon’s handbags are crafted in Melbourne by husband and wife team Guy and Lee. who have been in the business for over forty years.

“The company formed in 1983 and since then Guy + Lee have had many highs & lows. They have seen the local industry when it was thriving in the 70’s + 80’s and they have seen the industry slowly die when the government lifted the Chinese import tax in the 70’s. The thing we love most about working with Guy + Lee is their shared passion for the art, and it’s a privilege to listen to their wealth of knowledge.”

Read the full interview with Guy and Lee here.

This post was sponsored by Black Moon

Kira Simpson

Kira Simpson is an environmentalist and sustainability expert. She started The Green Hub as a blog in 2015, which has since grown to become one of Australia’s largest education sites dedicated to helping people live a more sustainable lifestyle.