How This Woman-Owned Sustainable Luxury Brand is Changing Fashion
It's Women's History Month so we're bringing awareness to a local woman-owned luxury accessories brand that produces sustainable and ethically-made leather bags and accessories using exotic skins from invasive and overpopulated species to save ecosystems in danger around the world.
The brand is ushering in a new age of minimalism, individuality and conscious fashion, with a focus on creating thoughtful investment pieces and elevated staples.
From Sea to Chic - Meet Piper & Skye
In 2015 Joanna MacDonald founded responsible luxury accessory brand Piper & Skye, which makes sustainable luxury handbags from exotic skins of invasive or overpopulated species. Before launching the company, MacDonald studied at the London College of Fashion, broadening her knowledge of luxury accessory design. She started her career as a human resource professional in agricultural manufacturing, but her entrepreneurial spirit contributed to her pivot into fashion design, specifically luxury handbags. She credits this career change in part to her late grandmother, who, at an early age, taught her the feeling a woman has when carrying a piece of fashion on her arm, especially when it was created with a genuine purpose. This purpose has driven MacDonald’s deep-rooted understanding and appreciation for inclusion, transparency and responsibility within Piper & Skye.
Under Joanna’s careful guidance, Piper & Skye has achieved a transparent supply chain, using artisans to develop ethically made, sustainable goods with a lower carbon footprint than traditional leather. With a dedication to raising the bar for luxury, MacDonald is constantly innovating the brand’s products and direction with a genuine concern for people and the planet and a responsibility for both internal and external stakeholders. She infuses philanthropic efforts with every initiative, specifically supporting survivors of domestic abuse, human trafficking and homelessness.
MacDonald believes the future of luxury goods lies in being environmentally conscious and sustainable, something she has been passionate about developing and innovating for years.
