Lisa Gawthorne: Entrepeneur, Team GB athlete & vegan leader

Vendula LONDON

Bags for life.

By Karin Ridgers

Showing how proud I am as a vegan has always involved more than just what I eat.

Over the years people have asked me about my makeup, what skincare I use, asked about my shoes and boots – and of course about my handbags. I proudly show them that you can look and feel even more fabulous when everything is cruelty free.

When I first saw Vendula London I fell in love. Their designs are unlike any I have seen before and the quality is fantastic. And their goal is to be the quirkiest vegan handbag brand in the UK.

Vendula London are quirky, colourful and retro with a twist. Their one guiding design philosophy is to make people ask:

‘Where did you get that bag!?’

Vendula London launched in October 2003. The idea for the brand was sparked after a chance meeting between accountant Raymond Lam and lawyer Vendula Zemanova. Vendula was passionate about animal welfare. They were both fed up with the corporate 9 to 5 culture and were looking for entrepreneurial opportunities.

“We were flicking through an accessories magazine, looking at handbags with expensive exotic animal skins. We both agreed that beautiful fashion pieces do not have to involve in killing animals. Our focus first turned to shopper bags made of cotton fabrics and then vegan leathers. Most vegan leather handbags at the time were of low quality, however we felt with the right materials and craftmanship we could create beautiful pieces with vegan leathers - so Vendula London was born.”

“We are proud of so much at Vendula Towers… as well as a fantastic dedicated team we launch at least 20 collections each year. Each has a different theme so there will be something to suit everyone’s tastes.”

Vendula London is privileged and delighted to have partnered with the iconic band Queen and have launched their Queen X Vendula range this year. As huge Queen fans themselves knowing that Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor love their designs is incredible.

Vendula London is worn by a growing number of celebrities and influencers, and they have recently won the Most Innovative Vegan Handbag Brand 2022 as well as Most Innovative Vegan Handbag Brand 2021 by LUXlife.

Here are some of my favourites from their latest collections…

Lucky Paws Grab Bag The Lucky Paws Grab Bag may be small, however it still has space for your essentials and will be your favourite fashion asset whenever you use it thanks to a laser-cut cat shaped handle and cat-shaped studs at the front. Have you seen the cat-shaped zip pullers? You can use it either as a hand bag or crossbody with the detachable strap, and you can now choose between three colours: will you opt for the classic black, summer blue or will you go for the sweet pink version of the Lucky Paws Grab Bag? Designed in Saffiano vegan leather with natural shine. Let’s toast a wonderful summer! In the shape of a bottle, the Vendula Cheers Champagne Bag is the perfect evening accessory, with a sparkly bottle green body and gold neck and finish. It has an elegant design and a stylish strap that’ll make you the most fashionable lady in the room. It can hold all you need and we are sure you will love showing it off. Vendula will make sure your evening goes with a pop! Cheers!

I personally love the Vendula London range – a connection with my radio show!

Vinyl Grab Bag

Cheers Champagne Bag

Vendula Vinyl Grab Bag

The Vendula Vinyl Grab Bag has such a groovy vibe you can almost hear the disco beat as you walk along the street!

This vegan leather bag can keep all your essentials organised with a roomy interior and pockets.

It also looks great with its vintage artwork that will make you smile all summer! This is your chance to spin some vinyl and transport yourself back to the swinging sixties and seventies…

Shakespeare’s Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mini Grace Bag (Limited Edition)

Are you going to the theatre or starring there this summer? The actors on the stage may have to give the performance of a lifetime to compete with your Limited Edition Shakespeare’s Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mini Grace Bag (coming with a serial number, special dust bag and limited edition lining)! It features Bottom whose head has been turned into a donkey’s head and two fairies (one above him and one behind the door) at the front and a famous quote taken from the play on the back. Use it every day or keep it for a special occasion to add a very special touch to any outfit. Watch all heads turn in your direction as they take in the splendour of this stylish and stunning bag and its metallic green laser-cut starry roof!

Midsummer Night’s Dream Mini Grace Bag

Midsummer Night’s Dream Mini Grace Bag

Designing a bag for Freddie Mercury was no easy task - he has so many iconic looks and defining moments in history.

However they kept coming back to his iconic yellow jacket that he wore on the ‘Magic’ European tour in 1986. When you think of Freddie you think of the yellow jacket - and Vendula London wanted to capture that magic and bring it home for everyone.

The Freddie bag also comes with a striped shoulder strap – because you can’t have the jacket without the iconic trousers to match! They couldn’t not finish this bag without the legends signature – so on the back of the bag you’ll find Freddie’s signature embroidered.

Adamski

No Killer, No Filler

Adamski is an English DJ, musician, singer & record producer, known for his role in the acid house scene and possibly most notably for his tracks ‘N-R-G’ & ‘Killer’, a number 1 hit collab with Seal in 1990.

A friend of ours, Adamski took some time out of his busy schedule to chat to us about the good ole’ days.

Adamski! How are things? Coming at you Live & Direct and full of N-R-G

I’m well thankyou, enjoying my life and healthy enough… How are you?

Great thanks! Back doing gigs & festivals? Must have been an awful 2 years?

I’m doing public stuff here and there yes… it wasn’t so awful because me and the misses have a beautiful garden in the Vienna Woods… I broadcasted a few sets from there which was fun. That whole 2 years passed really quickly for me anyway…

Was it a creative period would you say? Some time to create new tunes? New projects?

Yes, yes and yes! I’ve been on a roll… Among many other things I made a cover version of a song called Black Butterfly with Robert Owens for our dear friend Mina Smallman whose daughters were brutally murdered in summer 2020 … that’s out now… I have a release on Boysnoize records imminently but that’s a surprize…

Glastonbury 1990 and Italia 1990 seem a long time ago now... Good memories…

Yes indeed good memories but there is sadly no photographic record of me performing on the pyramid stage. Only one picture I know of by Toby the bongo player’s mum which is focused on him and i look miles away in the background! That’s quite funny though. I was on before Happy Mondays and ended up hanging around a lot with them and their entourage that summer…

I think the Italy thing (billed as the 1st rave in Italy) was actually in 91. The actress Asia Argento was there as a 15 year old ‘wild child’…we’ve since become friends since then! She calls me ‘techno maestro’…

And wind back a few years to Vegfest Bristol 2016 when you met Karin! – is that when you went vegan?

No it wasn’t quite then, but she was a great help in my transition… My wife and I both went vegan in 2017 after we got married and we’re both very happy about that!

What’s it been like getting vegan grub on the road?

Sometimes i’m given an insulting and inedible plate of rabbit food and treated like some kind of Neil from the Young Ones - an awkward kind of character. And I’m given a lot of humous... Luckily i quite like it! But there have been major advancements made everywhere. Here in Vienna there is now a chain of 11 vegan ive cream parlours, for instance - Veganista.There’s even one at the airport and it’s very very good. 4 years ago vegan food in Austria wasn’t good...

Any other famous vegans out there we should know about?

I met one at a rave event in Edinburgh a few weeks ago… Yolanda synths n strings from Belfast. We were bundled together in the shuttle from the hotel to the rave and were both provided with the usual bag of humous and crisps from Morrisons. We both saw the funny side…

Talking of which, who’s your favourite all-time DJ – apart from your good self of course?

My favourite (at least most influential on me) is Alfredo in Ibiza. i’ve eaten with him at an amazing raw vegan restaurant in Ibiza callled Wild Beets. Is it ‘in’ or ‘on’ Ibiza? I can never remember…

And venue? We saw a clip of you recently online at Amnesia in Ibiza around 1990 dropping a set.

That must’ve been 1989 as it was closed in 90 - sadly they were required by law to build a roof on it. Yes I played there alongside Alfredo many times in 89 in what was then considered to be (including by myself) the best nightclub in the world… It was definitely the epicentre of the global dance music revolution!

Okay so, what’s your favourite vegan food and destination?

We have faves around the places we regularly visit.. Breathe in Paris, Tisch in Vienna, AvantGarden (we just discovered) in New York… There’s a vegan Thai place in Earl’s court, London whose name escapes me… All of these are mind blowing. Thankfully there are new places springing up everywhere everyday. Japan is not so vegan friendly but we have eaten exquisite vegan food in Tokyo…

What’s next for Adamski?

All I want to do is make music and have a laugh for the foreseeable future… Wherever that takes me!

You must get asked a zillion times – still in touch with Seal? Any reunion gigs even remotely possible?

No and I very much doubt it. Our paths have long since diverged… However I did make various upcycled versions of Killer with a diverse collection of singers including Boy George, Nina Hagen and Hannah Hu of The Specials for its 30th anniversary in 2020 but Covid kind of swept it under the carpet… But it’s out there… It exists!

Any advice to new plant-based munchers?

You must read Ed Winters’ book, ’This is Vegan Propaganda’ and try to keep your cool… It was and it still is an adventure for me.

Thanks Adam, you’re the best.

Check out Adamski on his website, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram!

Freya Cox

& The Great Vegan Take-Over

You may recognise Freya from British TV, when she competed as the first vegan baker on The Great British Bake Off. During her 5 weeks in the Bake Off tent at just 19 years old, Freya inspired fans all over to try baking the vegan way. And now Freya has a new book, too - ‘Simply Vegan Baking’.

Photo credit: Simply Vegan Baking: Taking the faff out of vegan cakes, cookies, breads and desserts by Freya Cox (£18.99, Murdoch Books). Photography by Clare Winfield. Plant Powered Planet I 101