Brand To Believe In: DeMellier

Fashion : Love

22 August 2019

Shifting to more ethical and intelligent ways of working is the zeitgeist of fashion in 2019. Slowly but surely, more brands are placing an emphasis on environmental consciousness – and, as ardent supporters of sustainable efforts, we’re celebrating the brands doing just that. Each week, we’ll be meeting the brands fashioning beautiful goods with the greater good in mind.

The words 'integrity' and 'empowerment' spring to mind when discussing luxury handbag brand, DeMellier. Founder Mireia Llusia-Lindh will stop at nothing to fulfil the brand’s core values – design, integrity, womanhood, craftsmanship and charity – at every level of the supply chain.

Working out of a factory close to where her grandmother's family once resided, the brand encourages a fusion of old and new, by honouring the founder’s Spanish heritage and melding it with contemporary design. “The techniques of making leather luxury goods are deeply-rooted and leather craftsmanship is a local tradition”, explains Mireia.

The core values we talk of are attained through the brand’s focus on ethical manufacturing and empowerment. "We know very well and trust completely the factory and the people we work with, who offer fair working conditions and a safe working environment to all their artisans and workers,” says Mireia. “Making the artisans feel empowered also means we treasure the products they are crafting: we never destroy, burn or throw away any products, and bags that can’t be sold are donated through our partner charity SOS Children's Villages."

But empowerment doesn’t stop there, as Mireia aspires to “create pieces as strong as the women who wear them". After all, DeMellier is designed by women for women. The brand champions innovative design through an artistic emblemising of empowerment: take their latest collection as an example – its core feature of an arrow-inspired double-bar lock designed to symbolise the strength of women, our heroines. Meanwhile, the brand pays homage to women across the globe – naming styles after cities like Copenhagen, Naples and Venice.

Bestowed with philanthropic, alongside creative vision, Mireia always knew giving back would be core to the DNA of any company she would start. And this personal goal had been actualised via DeMellier’s permanent A Bag, A Life initiative, which sees the brand fund a set of lifesaving vaccines with every purchase. Inspired by motherhood, she wanted to help the most vulnerable orphans in the world, and since its inception in 2010, DeMellier have funded over 45,000 vaccines and treatments in countries like Somalia and Zambia.

While DeMellier’s trinity of creativity, championing women and charity has earned it our badge of a #BrandToBelieveIn, its attention to exquisite craftsmanship has also garnered them the more tangible award Brand of Tomorrow by Walpole, who offer expert guidance to the most promising British luxury brands. As the brand continues to grow, Mireia pledges her intention to expand the brand without ever losing its values.

Shop DeMellier's collections here