In a world of mass production, the highest price tag doesn’t guarantee the best quality. When even the most high-end brands have been reported to have links to sweatshops and child labor, what could be more luxurious after all, than a bag that carries with it a clear conscious?
Let us introduce Eittem. Eittem officially launched this week with three styles: Owl, Moon, and Bird, each available in wood grain and two glossy colors. Not only are the bags produced in New York, but the materials for the handbags are sourced almost entirely within the US – in fact, much of the walnut used is ‘urban salvage’ from within the city itself. The convertible bags come with a sterling silver chain that is plated with rhodium,and affixed with pendants on each end that click into the interior.
[See also: Ralph Lauren Launches First Men’s Jewelry Collection]
The process, from wood block to handbag, takes around two weeks as the collection is being produced in small batches and released in editions. Sure it may seem slightly more arduous than strolling into a Fifth Avenue boutique and picking something off the shelf, but that’s part of Eittem’s point.
Every bag is engraved on the inside with a unique identifying code and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by the makers. Of course, all of this attention to detail and exclusivity comes with a price: the nine bags Eittem launched the collection with range in price from $5,800 to $7,800.
While the manufacturing and production process are completely transparent, for the design of the bag, however, Eittem has purposefully left it somewhat ambiguous. After all, these are not necessarily handbags, instead, they are timeless, sculptural pieces that merely function as handbags; ‘fine objects made to hold and be held’. Even the name Eittem – pronounced like ‘item’ – is a nod to the fact these act as objets d’art first, accessories second.
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This cross-over into the world of art is more than just clever branding, in fact picking Chelsea for the home for Eittem’s studio closer associates it by proximity to the neighborhood’s many galleries and art studios – as well as being pretty much next door to the brand’s factory where the bags are produced.
[See also: Rabanne Shows Off The World’s Most Expensive Bag]
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