Lovia manufactures luxury bags from ISKU’s furniture surplus leather

The accessory brand Lovia was born from the designer’s ideological crisis – ISKU has been a part of Lovia’s story from the very beginning.

The founder and designer of accessory brand Lovia, Outi Korpilaakso, is a familiar sight at the ISKU factory in Lahti. For several years now, she has been selecting leftover leather from ISKU’s production Lovia, which makes luxury bags from it. Small pieces of leather can no longer be used in ISKU’s production, but they are perfectly suited for making bags.

The ideology of Lovia’s bags is based on that no new material is used beforehand, but the collection is created according to the available leather.

“If someone orders a lavender blue leather sofa from ISKU, it will soon also be visible in the color selection of Lovia’s bags,” laughs Korpilaakso.

“When Lovia was born, we turned the design process upside down. First we start with the available material and then think about what we could make out of it. This has resulted in, for example, the braiding used in bags, which allows us to also use small pieces of leather,” continues Korpilaakso.

The business idea originated from Korpilaakso’s ideological crisis. She had worked as a clothing designer and was concerned about the ecological and ethical problems produced by the fashion industry.

“For my part, I want to solve the global waste problem and use only the surplus of other people’s production as material. I feel that I work primarily for the benefit of this planet,” says Korpilaakso.

Collaboration is chosen on the basis of ecology and ethics

Lovia bags are handmade in Italy, and Korpilaakso knows all the people who is involved in the manufacturing process. Lovia always selects all partners with an emphasis on ecological and ethical values.

“It is important to me that ecological thinking goes through the entire material, production and supply chain. I always choose the most ecological option from what is available,” says Korpilaakso.

Korpilaakso appreciates domestic and responsible production of ISKU. ISKU has made major eco-decisions in manufacture, for example switching to ecological and low-emission paints and varnishes and use certified wood. ISKU also reduces waste accumulation and uses land and solar energy in the production.

“It is important and great that the focus has been on ecology. That’s why we want to be partners with ISKU. In addition, it’s always nice to visit the factory since their workers are always so nice and helpful,” smiles Korpilaakso.

Consumers have woken up to responsibility

“During the last few years, there has been a big awakening among consumers and responsibility is taken seriously in their own consumption. The time is ripe and necessary for this kind of thinking, and it would be good to apply it to other companies as well,” says Korpilaakso.

Lovia and ISKU have also collaborated in the use of fabric waste. In addition to leather, ISKU’s factory also produces surplus fabric, from which Lovia develops new products. The demand for responsible products is constantly increasing.
In the future, the utilization of the smaller surplus scrap from leather production will also be explored as a raw material for recycled material.

In addition, Lovia and ISKU are experimenting with a new cooperation model, in which Lovia gives information to ISKU on sizes of leather pieces it needs, and ISKU directly supplies Lovia with pieces of suitable size, without Lovia’s team having to travel to Lahti to investigate the available options.

“In this way, we reduce the emissions caused by movement and of course the time of our team members.” says Korpilaakso.

Lovia

A design brand born in 2014 that makes luxury products from waste materials. Lovia creates luxury bags from the surplus leather left from the production of ISKU products. The ideology is completely based on ecological and ethical production.