LUXTRA (NOW SHAKER)

LUXTRA, NOW REBRANDED AS SHAKER, IS THE PLANT-BASED HANDBAG BRAND, FOUNDED IN 2018

BY JESSICA KRUGER.

FRUSTRATED WITH A UNEMPATHETIC FASHION INDUSTRY, JESSICA SET OUT TO REWRITE THE NARRATIVE TOWARDS

HUMAN, ANIMAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUFFERING, SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON PLANTBASED MATERIALS. SITTING DOWN WITH JESSICA, WE DISCUSSED THE BRANDS MISSION TO PROMOTE RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION.

Isil: Hi Jessica, welcome! So, to introduce you, you are a serial entrepreneur, and you started the brand Luxtra. Can you tell us about that journey, how you started Luxtra and where it is now?

Jess: The whole reason I started working on Luxtra, was because I really care about animal welfare, and I think we could do more in the world to live cruelty-free lifestyles.

So, I wanted to create a brand which both has beautiful products and looks to take animals out of the equation.

Isil: And you’ve coined this as conscious luxury?

Jess: Yes, conscious because we really care, we put a lot of time and effort into checking that all the things we do are kinder to people, planet, and animals. So, it’s not just animal welfare I care about, I care about doing business in the right way and conscious luxury involves creating beautiful products with fine craftsmanship, for example all our products are made in Italy, and ensuring we are doing this in a way that really takes care of all the externalities as well, rather than just focusing on the bottom line.

“AS WE SEE MORE AND MORE INVESTMENT IN THESE THINGS (SUSTAINABLE & CONSCIOUS FASHION) THE MONETARY PRICE OF BEING SUSTAINABLE DECREASES AS WELL, WHICH IS A HUGE PART OF THE CONVERSATION.”

Isil: You’re also a part of B-Corp, I think it’s been how many years?

Jess: Yes, we were certified in 2020, Chloe, one of my team members is doing our recertification as we speak. The recertification forces you, even know being sustainable is constantly in our heads, B-Corp means you must remain sustainable. This involves putting everything down as a policy, proving how we are measuring things within our business.

Isil: And is that something you benefit from, being a part of B-Corp? Aside from obviously being a conscious business, how about the side that is building both community and profit?

Jess: I think so. I always like to think we’re walking the walk and talking the talk, in terms of doing business as ethically and as kindly as possible. Because there is so much hype and greenwashing in the industry, amongst all kinds of brands, it’s a way of proving to the consumer that we are doing a lot of the things that we should be doing and that they can trust us.

Isil: It’s interesting, how do you balance out that profit side to the conscious side?

Jess: It’s a mentality, I think the world is moving forwards. Profit used to be on the highest pedestal and everything else sat on a pedestal below, whereas now each factor is hopefully more even, or becoming more even, in the grand scope of things. So, it’s making sure that people understand the long-term value of acting conscious as well, rather than focusing on these immediate quarterly results.

Isil: So, how do you continue to engage with the brand community and educate them? You’re obviously not a traditional brand, you’re doing things differently and that needs a bit of explaining.

Jess: Yep, so we talk a lot, and we write a lot and we put a lot of information out there and I believe that ultimately makes us more interesting as well. It makes people want to engage with us more, instead of just constantly being like here’s another bag and here’s another bag, pushing product over values.

Isil: What role do you see sustainable fashion, or conscious fashion playing in the future?

Jess: I think it’s the way of the future, I can only see that it’ll go forwards. I can’t see us going backwards if you like. We’ve spoken about all these issues such as very poor working conditions, poor wages, especially with Covid people weren’t being paid because brand’s pulled orders. Transparency is key, all these issues are getting pushed out into the open, we’re talking about them, what I’m trying to say is that we’re not going backwards.

As we see more and more investment in these things (sustainable & conscious fashion) the monetary price of being sustainable decreases as well, which is a huge part of the conversation. It’s being normalised with the consumer as well meaning the more it comes onto people’s radars, the more these issues are being discussed… it’s only going to improve.

Isil: My last question would be about you and being a female founder of a brand. This obviously comes with its difficulties but how was that journey, and do you have any advice to those who want to make an impact or want to start their own brands?

Jess: I spend a lot of time networking now because you never know who and what conversation will trigger something interesting. I always come away with new ideas, no matter who I speak too, even those who seem a bit more untouchable and come across a bit harder to speak too. There’s a lot of rejection as well though, which is hard, but I think I’m lucky because I really care about what we do, we have beautiful product and I get the prototypes back from Italy and I’m just wowed at how gorgeous it is, you know, it’s plastic free, it’s beautiful… I can’t wait to put this out there. That makes it easy for me to get excited and get back out there every day.

Designing With Low Impact In Mind