On our way to a fully circular handbag

The leather industry is worth $500 billion. And almost every product goes to waste. Today's leather goods are full of plastic components hidden underneath the surface, making them impossible to recycle. We decided to challenge the status quo and are on our way to create vegan, plastic-free and bio-based leather goods fit for the circular economy.

A plastic-free vegan leather

After years of development, MELINA BUCHER was the world's first brand to launch a handle bag made with MIRUM® - the groundbreaking 100% bio-based, plastic-free vegan leather. Our pioneering work received global attention and was awarded major awards like the German Sustainability Award in Design and the PETA Vegan Fashion Award.

Learn more about MIRUM®

Meet our MIRUM® Collection

  • Kingston

    Kingston

    Kingston

    €390 EUR
    €390 EUR
  • Loulou

    Loulou

    Loulou

    €790 EUR
    €790 EUR
  • Mini Elay

    Mini Elay

    Mini Elay

    €590 EUR
    €590 EUR
  • Elay

    Elay

    Elay

    From €1 290 EUR
    From €1 290 EUR
  • Dreamer

    Dreamer

    Dreamer

    €790 EUR
    €790 EUR
  • Another Bailey

    Another Bailey

    Another Bailey

    From €590 EUR
    €490 EUR From €590 EUR
  • Bailey

    Bailey

    Bailey

    From €490 EUR
    €490 EUR From €490 EUR
  • Scarlett

    Scarlett

    Scarlett

    From €510 EUR
    From €510 EUR
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What's in your bag

Regular boring bag

Really nice MB bag

Outer material

PU-coated animal leather or PU-coated textile ("synthetic leather")

Lining

Polyester / cotton

Thread

Polyester

Image of Handbag Ingredients

Handle reinforcement

Synthetic (PVC / EVA)

Bottom reinforcement

Synthetic (non-woven / PU-coated cardboard)

Padding

Synthetic (PU foam / PES non-woven)

Outer material

100% bio-based, plastic-free MIRUM®

Lining

Certified organic cotton from Cotonea Germany

Thread

C2C-certified polyester / waxed linen

Image of Handbag Ingredients

Handle reinforcement

Undyed, organic cotton

Bottom reinforcement

100% bio-based nonwoven made from Hemp

Padding

100% bio-based from mycelium / mushroom / plants

Extensive material Research

In our collaborative atelier in Germany, designers and master bag makers work hand in hand with scientists from all over the world. We test new material innovations and develop our own components based on algae, mycelium, hemp and more to replace current synthetic leather components.

Innovators we work with

Learn more about vegan leather

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Where we still need to improve

We have found bio-based material alternatives for most of the components of our handbags. We are still experimenting in the sectors of glues and edge finishing, where we plan to have bio-based solutions until 2025.

OUR EU PROJECTS

  • Up2Circ

    Up2Circ – Boosting the uptake of circular business model, product and process innovation, is an international project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme – Horizon 2.4 – Digital, Industry and Space.

    The project aims to accelerate and scale up the transition of European small and medium sized companies towards a circular economy. MELINA BUCHER was one of only 15 European SME's to be awarded a 50,000 € grant to implement circularity measures.

    https://up2circ.eu/first-open-call/ 

  • WORTH II

    WORTH is the sole European project where designers, SMEs, manufacturers, and tech providers work together to develop innovative, design-oriented business ideas. As winner of the WORTH II call, we worked together with a Serbian manufacturer on enhancing our biomaterial content.

    Learn more 

  • Fashion For Change

    The Fashion For Change Accelerator funded by the EU Cosme programme provided 25 outstanding EU partnerships working on circular fashion funds and a consultancy program. As one of the selected partnerships, we worked together with 540 World from UK on our circularity strategy.

    Learn more