Factories

STC is a smoothly run family business and has around 500 employees, who all have access to healthcare and social benefits, such as retirement funds. Ipshita, daughter of one of the founders, stepped into her father’s business around 8 years ago and is now managing the complete O My Bag department.

We started working with STC at the end of 2014. Today, they are responsible for the production of a big part of our collection, and even have a production line just for our Beck's Bumbag.

O My Bag was the first brand for which STC produced a sustainable leather line. STC is partnering with local NGO's to train young women to become leather professionals, so that they can hire more and more skilled women in their factory. To reduce their environmental impact, solar panels provide all the energy for the factory during the day. STC is a true frontrunner in the Kolkata leather complex, and always looking for ways to innovate and improve their production process.

We have been working with the Equitable Marketing Association (EMA) right from the very beginning in 2010. EMA was established in 1977 and is a guaranteed member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO).

When entering the doors of EMA, you step from the hectic Kolkata life into a peaceful haven. In the center of the different buildings on site, there is a tranquil garden full of trees and flowers. A vegetable garden on site supplies fresh herbs and veggies that are used for lunch. Currently, 139 people are working at EMA. They not only get to enjoy regular skills trainings, health insurance and social benefits such as maternity leave, but also a nice big, freshly prepared lunch every day.

EMA is women led and employs especially disadvantaged people. Their workers comprise artisans, farmers, craftsmen and weavers who enjoy sustainable livelihoods by producing various types of fair trade products including the O My Bags you know and love. The Dustbag ladies are also part of EMA. A former worker of the factory saw how eager the women in his village were to find work. He quit his job and set up a sewing workshop for them. These ladies now make all O My Bag’s dustbags!

As we are growing and evolving we are delighted to see EMA and all its employees evolve with us!

Springfield Factory has been a partner since 2015 and it has always been a pleasure to work with them. The company was established in 2002 by J.S. Sawhney, who is a real connoisseur, considering the fact that producing handbags has been a family vocation since 1957! Our colleagues at Springfield share plenty of our values and just like us they want to produce bags that are not only of an amazing quality, but also produced in a fair way.

All employees at Springfield enjoy health and accident insurance and benefit from social security schemes like retirement or unemployment funds. Just as at all our partnering factories, women are entitled to equal pay and maternity leave.

Springfield is very environmentally conscious. They like to take full advantage of the daylight, but when lights are needed they use energy-efficient light bulbs to help reduce electricity consumption. The management team of father and sons makes sure that factory waste is recycled and water is used frugally.

All our leather items come with the same size organic cotton dust bags. These dust bags protect your O My Bag, but they also have a huge social impact; they are promoting women empowerment and education.

Abdullah, a former employee of EMA, wanted to provide work to a small group of women from Bhatpao – a village outside of Kolkata, India. Women from Bhatpao marry very young, usually around the age of 12-14 years. When growing older, many of these women are looking for more independence – being less reliant on their husbands. Abdullah saw that these women in his village were eager to find work, so he created a sewing facility next to his own house with enough space for a group of 14-16 ladies who work about 4 to 5 hours a day. Their children play around the facility so the women can keep a close eye on them. The ladies can become more independent and take care of their children at the same time.

O My Bag helps these power ladies with training on sewing skills, self-care, home economics, and women’s rights. On their last India trip in May 2022, our Production Manager Jessica and sustainability Manager Femke, joined one of the training days.

Joyya is not a producing facility for our leather bags, but they make the organic cotton tote bags we use for events. Joyya is an organization that provides alternative employment opportunities for in women at-risk groups. At Joyya they find hope for a brighter future and the means to make it a reality.

At present, 250 ladies receive trainings relevant for their new job and are empowered with life-skills needed to find their way and make the most out of their freedom.

The salary is twice as much as one would receive for an equivalent job and all employees benefit from health insurance and a pension plan. Associated with Joyya is the Joyya Trust, which provides literacy classes, child care, budgeting and debt management services.

In 2018, O My Bag supported The Cup, a café belonging to Joyya. Its purpose is to be a safe space for women so they can build healthy relationships, grow a supportive community and confidence in a brighter future. At the same time, it's a place from which Joyya can keep an eye on the safety of the women working there. For example, if a regular visitor of the café suddenly is not seen anymore, they can go check on her.

After extensive research, O My Bag partnered with Mabel Synthetic in 2021, not only because they were able to create a beautiful vegan material - Uppeal™, but because we share the same sustainability values.

Based in Florence, Italy, Mabel Synthetic have been producing waste-based materials since 2010. Their focus is on ecological innovation and their goal is to decrease the footprint we leave on the planet. Mabel and their research and development team aims to become as close as possible to being 100% ‘circular’.

Traditional alternatives to leather are made from 100% fossil derivatives and Mabel Synthetic are able to produce Uppeal™ from 40% natural materials. Not only does this decrease the production of synthetic materials, Mabel Synthetic are able to repurpose 30,000 tons of apple waste per year, substantially decreasing the need for waste management facilities.

Mabel Synthetic are currently working to find new bio based polymers in an attempt to substitute all PU and we’re proud to partner with them on this journey.