What does a tax lawyer have in common with a cancer survivor and a proud (but guilty) feminist? Everything. They’re all the same person. Faldan’s new campaign celebrates the multiple identities of every woman: the many complementary contradictions that make up each one of us.
Faldan – the world’s first ethical luxury foldable bag – exists to champion women. Its founder, mother, inventor and former UN Climate Negotiator Lithuanian Laura Hanning, created the bag not only as a symbol of sustainability but also to act as a ‘partner in crime’ to life’s ultimate jugglers. One bag to serve the multiple versions and complexities of woman.
The new #FaldanWomen campaign is a celebration of how one woman contains many identities. The boss. The mother. The partner. The thinker. The supporter. The daydreamer. The traveller. The brand chose nine women who embodied this idea.
The campaign was shot by photographer and style editor Candice Lake, who also stars. The line-up continues with Laura Hanning, strategist Sindy Liu, artist Indre Serpytyte - Roberts, opera director and playwright Dalia Ibelhauptaite, founder of fashion rental service By Rotation, Eshita Kabra, award-winning brand consultant Kubi Springer, city lawyer Asta Evans and skin guru Renée Lapino.
“As women we live these various contradictions every day, trying to do and be it all. Sometimes we juggle successfully, and sometimes not so much,” explains Laura. “We want to be able to be fabulous but also be taken seriously, to be sexy and smart, a dreamer but also a doer.”
Faldan was born out of Laura’s own life of juggling, compounded with the guilt of not wanting to add unnecessary waste by using disposable bags. The idea was a perfectly foldable bag, but not like any other. It would be one that could be neat and unobtrusive, and then big and bold when required. “I wanted to create a bag version of me and every amazing woman I know: the ultimate multi-tasker.”
Faldan was developed in London and Wiltshire but looked to Florence to find the skilled craftsmanship needed to bring the pioneering design to life. Faldan’s partners in Tuscany place social responsibility at the heart of their production values, blending traditional artisanal practices with innovative technologies to create new future proof techniques. All materials used were selected for their sustainability, lightness and durability. Faldan uses ethical, responsibly-sourced leather, recycled nylon made from plastic bottles and old fishing nets and packaging made from recycled coffee cups.
Faldan was founded by former UN Climate Negotiator Lithuanian Laura Hanning in 2018. Hanning graduated with a Masters from the University of Cambridge and spent almost a decade working in environmental policy and UN climate negotiations.
Realising that there was a gap in the market for a product that actively helped to reduce our wasteful habits, but that was still a desirable luxury product, Hanning took an accessories design course at London College of Fashion and spent months folding origami shapes and calculating the best size and volume to make the Faldan bag as useful and purposeful as possible.
Up to 5 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year, almost 650 bags for every person on the planet. Based on the average global consumption per person over five years, one Faldan bag replaces 3250 plastic bags.