Accessories: Abury Ethical Luxury Where Old World Traditions Meet Cutting Edge Design
[Image credit: Berber Collection, Blue and Pink Berber Clutch – Abury]
Abury is an ethical luxury fashion accessories brand whose ethos is one of combining old world traditions with cutting edge design to create a new style, one of timeless and authentic luxury. Abury is a response to mass production, inviting people to appreciate the beauty that is around them, to form emotional connections to the products they buy and to take the time to recognise the meaning of true luxury that comes with tradition, time and care in production. Heritage, knowledge and wisdom are turned into timeless high-quality products, that include bags, personal accessories and footwear for people to treasure.
[Image credit: Berber Collection, Red Saadia Shoulder Bag – Abury]
The first product Abury produced was the Berber Handbag, which was modelled on original handcrafted leather Berber bags from Morocco. Other collections included Free People, Tropical Collections all handmade in Morocco, and designed by selected invited designers. Bags in the Vintage Collection comprise a selection of historical bags that were traditionally worn by Berber men on long journeys and each feature intricate embroidery.
[Image credit: Free People Collection, Desert Saffron Women’s Backpack – Abury]
The company is based in Berlin, Germany and was founded in 2008 by Andrea Kolb, following a trip to Marrakesh to renovate an old house, where she found herself drawn to the various traditional handicraft techniques of the local craftsmen and women she worked with on the site. Realizing that the local skills including embroidery, carving and glass blowing, were slowly disappearing in favour of rising fast consumerism Andrea sought a way to help preserve them, by creating collections that combine style, ethics, exclusiveness and sustainability.
[Image credit: Tropical Collection, Billy Straw Clutch – Abury]
Embracing the diversity in culture, and a respect for world crafts Andrea devised a design exchange model of connecting artisans from inspiring cultures with selected leading design talent across the world. The invited designers spend about three-months within the artisan community producing each collection in a knowledge-sharing process of swapping traditional skills with cutting-edge design aesthetics. Andrea intended for this process to help designers reconnect to the emotional aspects craft brings to design, and in turn help the artisans learn design development skills, as well as providing means of a sustainable income, and as well as helping to renew interest in the local craft traditions to help preserve them. At present, Abury works mainly with artisans in Morocco and Ecuador.
[Image credit: Berber Collection, Peach and Creme Omari Shoulder Bag – Abury]
A percentage of Abury’s profits are reinvested in the artisans’ communities, going towards supporting education and community products, and creating initiatives such as teaching young women the painstaking ancient leather embroidery crafts. To assist in delivering the programmes Andrea has also established the Abury Foundation, an organisation to measure and monitor the impact of Abury’s work within the communities the company works with and is a member of the Ethical Fashion Forum.
Additional details:
Abury Products are currently priced from: €49-€490
For further information about Abury, and to purchase visit: http://abury.net
For further information about the Abury Foundation visit: http://abury.org/
[Image credits: All images belong to Abury. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]
