How to choose a luxury vegan handbag you will still carry in five years

A bag you still reach for in five years is not usually the most exciting one in the shop. It is the one that answered these questions properly.

1. What is the material, exactly?

Vegan tells you what a material is not. Ask what it is. Plant leather is made from plant sources, and the specific plant matters: ours are repurposed coffee grounds and bamboo. A house that will not name its material is telling you something.

2. Does the silhouette suit the day you actually have?

• A structured tote for a working day, a laptop and everything that follows it
• A shoulder bag for evenings, dinners and days that need very little
• Be honest about which of the two you live in, not which you aspire to

3. How is it finished?

Look at the edges, the stitch line along the base, and how a handle joins the body. Look at the interior, which is where most bags stop trying. These are the places a piece is built to last or built to sell.

4. Will the hardware still look right later?

Hardware dates a bag faster than a shape does. One considered mark is easier to live with than a logo repeated across the surface. Ours is a single gold hexagon.

5. What does keeping it require?

Ask before you buy, not after. Plant leather asks for a dry cloth and a cool cupboard, and no conditioning oils. That is the whole routine.

Where our two pieces land

• Bambote, a structured tote in bamboo leather, in black or cream, AED 1,750
• Espressa, a shoulder bag in coffee leather with a croc texture, in black or white, AED 1,450

Buy the piece you will still recognise as yours when the season it launched in is long forgotten.

Both are designed in Dubai, PETA-Approved Vegan, delivered worldwide with DHL GoGreen, and returnable within fourteen days with return shipping arranged by us.