For our latest collaboration at Garrard, we have joined forces with the ethical and sustainable luxury bag brand Belo to create a consciously crafted Garrard x Belo tote.
Creator of bold, colourful bags made from recycled seat belts with the highest attention to detail and quality of craftsmanship, Belo is the perfect brand to partner with because their values – of creating beautiful, versatile products that are kinder to the people and the planet – are perfectly aligned with our own.
Founded by two friends from opposite sides of the world, Suffolk-based Charlotte Bingham-Wallis and Brazilian Maria Costa, each Belo bag is intended to make us stop and think about the way we view waste, and how our fashion is made.
Established to sustainably create more opportunities for food, education and work in Brazil, Belo employs some 30 artisans, all of whom were recruited from an impoverished community in Belo Horizonte, Maria’s hometown. Belo’s founders want their team to feel appreciated and respected, so they pay their craftspeople a higher-than-living wage and provide a positive work environment in which to thrive.
Created using recycled blue seatbelts that closely match our signature Royal Blue colour, the Garrard x Belo tote is convertible from crossbody to backpack, with the Garrard logo embroidered on the front. An attached label shows a photo of the maker, alongside the benefits it brings them and the materials that were saved from landfill in the creation of each bag: a total of 12 metres of seatbelts, 10 plastic bottles and 300g of fabric offcuts.
To further support the neighbourhood in which its products are crafted, Belo also donates a percentage of its profits to Casa de Maria, its partner charity in Belo Horizonte, with each Garrard x Belo bag directly funding eight meals for the most vulnerable people in the community.
