Taking on Fast Fashion With Leather Bags Made From Luxury Brand Scraps

Dana Cohen witnessed the meteoric, and frightening, rise of fast fashion working for apparel companies in New York City for over a decade.

“We went from designing unique, thoughtful products to chasing trends and everything started to look the same,” recalls Cohen, 41, who was born and raised in Florida but now lives in Brooklyn with her family. “I watched fabrics get ordered and never be used and garments piling up on sales racks. We were drowning in fashion excess.”

It was then Cohen realised that she could do something to help while remaining in an industry she loved. “I couldn’t be complicit in the destruction of the planet and knew there had to be a better way to design,” she says.

undefined In November 2019, just a few months before the pandemic, Cohen launched Hyer Goods, a leather accessories company that uses the waste created by other brands—with fabric sourced from deadstock and factory scraps—to make bags, wallets, keychains, and blazers. The name Hyer is a riff on “higher,” or better, design.

Cohen’s mission is simple: to use scrap waste and “turn it into something beautiful.”

THE ITEMS 

Hyer Goods focuses on leather because it is “high-quality, durable and can last for generations. The last thing we’d want to do is create more things that just end up in a landfill,”  Cohen says. She launched an accessories brand, meanwhile, because accessories are small. “Focusing on small goods enables us to maximise the waste available. We even use the cutting waste to make our small leather goods, like card wallets and watch bands.”

Items include the ’90s-style luxe medium shoulder bag, which comes in colours like white and bright red and crocodile texture. There is also the luxe camera bag—available in a bright pop of fuschia pink and more neutral tones, such as camel—and the pocket cube bag, an everyday satchel with a canvas front pocket.

Hyer Goods also sells a deadstock leather blazer in a relaxed fit in black, chocolate and camel, and phone slings and wallets, as well as a handful of knitwear items, including the “salvaged angora scarf” and “a better beanie,” both created using leftover materials such as angora and merino yarn.

Cohen’s favorite style, however, is the luxe mini bucket bag, which comes with two different removable straps.

“It’s both classic and iconic in design,” she says. “I love that it converts from a crossbody to a handheld bag which enables me to wear it anywhere from errands to a wedding.”

Hyer Goods is currently selling a limited-edition, made-to-order Hello Adrianne hand-painted canvas bucket bag, featuring either a pair of tomatoes or a piece of farfalle pasta. A collaboration with the American artist Adrianne, dubbed “the tomato girl” for her depictions of canned tomatoes and other Italian foods, each bag is hand-painted in New Jersey.

“A good-quality bag can last for generations. I love the idea of creating heirloom products that can be handed down,” explains Cohen. “It’s the antithesis to fast fashion. I cherish some of my mom’s old bags, and I hope these bags have a similar future.”

THE PRICE

Many of the bags mentioned are priced around US$300, give or take. The deadstock leather blazer is US$375. The salvaged angora scarf is US$120, and the better beanie is US$75.

Besides shopping online, customers can also pop into the Hyer Goods store located on a quaint street in New York’s West Village.

WHAT’S THE GOOD?

Each year, 6.3 million tons of textiles are discarded in the fashion industry; in accessories, up to 15% of leather can be wasted due to the material’s natural defects, according to the Hyer Goods website. Most bag brands use either new leather, whose harvesting is bad for the environment, or vegan leather. Vegan leather may be animal-free, but it contains substantial amounts of plastic, does not wear well, and can take centuries to degrade.

By contrast, Hyer Goods uses deadstock materials, discarded by luxury brands, which reduces the energy footprint needed to breed livestock, as well as the waste sent to landfills. “In addition to using upcycled materials, every decision we make is made with the planet in mind, from our packaging choices to our designs,” says Cohen.

The company uses veg-tanned leather skins and tries to source leather made in Italy, directly from factories. Any canvas used, meanwhile, is deadstock, while the knits are made from luxury yarn leftovers, sourced locally in New York. Every supplier, meanwhile, must agree to the Hyer Goods Supplier Manual, which includes compliance with human rights laws.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Cohen says her goal from the start was to create the highest-quality goods out of waste.

“While we’re already using incredible Italian leathers and other luxury leftovers, I’m excited to announce some new sources of waste that are coming from the most exclusive, high-end brands in the world,” says Cohen. “In order to keep emissions as low as possible, we’ve developed an entire new supply chain in Italy, where the waste exists, and will be debuting a Made in Italy collection utilizing the world’s best leftover leathers soon.”