- Hi everyone. My new project is officially launched.
It's not clothing, it's not jewelry,
it's a handbag collection.
If you've been following my channel for a while,
you know that I love handbags.
I think they are the essential parts of any outfit,
but finding the perfect handbag is quite the quest.
So I decided to look into it myself.
Introducing PROJECT ELIXIR
The result of almost a year of research, of design work,
of finding the right materials.
This was a big one.
Experimenting, prototyping
until this collection felt perfect and ready.
I wanted a design that is unique,
that feels both fresh and timeless,
because I want this bag to stay with you for many years.
To keep all your stuff and your secrets,
to follow you from day to night,
ready no matter what's on your schedule.
I want this bag to be the elixir or the essence
of what a great handbag should feel like and do for you.
And then I also wanted it
to be made with sustainable materials, produced ethically,
highly functional, super versatile.
Quite a challenge, but this is it.
And in the end, it's not one design.
Five. With their own functionalities and their own purposes.
If you want to leave this video right now
and go see the collection, you can.
justineleconte.com/launch.
But I would really like to give you a tour first,
so you get some context
about why each design is the way it is
and the inspiration behind this whole project.
I'm going to start with the largest format,
which is this tote bag.
A laptop you can see, a good book,
a bottle of water, your headphones,
and also anything that you need
to carry around with you throughout the day.
It has a hidden zipped pocket at the back
for your phone or something like this.
Inside it has a fully zipped pocket, which you can see here,
a carabiner ring so that you don't have
to look for your keys, the dark handbag at night,
and two additional slip pockets to keep more things.
The top zipper can be positioned, I'm closing it,
like this to make it a little bit slimmer,
snapping the snap here, or you unsnap it,
you pull it up,
and then you have even more space inside your back.
Versatility, was key here.
You can wear it on your arm,
or you can use the shoulder strap,
which is adjustable to any length you want,
from very short to very long.
Little deep dive on the details here.
The strap is actually a custom woven jacquard
with a JL monogram.
The hardware is also exclusively made for this collection,
and you'll find the JL engraving
on the metal elements as well.
I find this very cheeky.
I mean, even the hook here,
it's called dog hook.
It's a shape,
you'll see nowhere else because it did not exist until now.
This tote bag and the shoulder strap, which matches,
come in caviar black, which is this one,
warm sand, and stone blue,
which is a light blue with a hint of gray.
Now on top of the leather colors,
there is an additional option, same design,
the tote bag.
This one is 100% cotton canvas,
for those of you who own animal products,
and I respect that choice.
Here, there is really
no leather, so for the elements that could not be in canvas,
this, the patch, the ends of the shoulder strap,
or also this one over here,
these elements are in a leather actually.
So this bag is really completely leather free.
And I must say, I have some friends,
I showed the tote bags to, men,
who said for me, this design.
And I can see why the color
and the material can feel the unisex, which is great,
because this project might be my first one
where all genders find something of their liking.
So I'm very happy with this canvas version,
and I think the design works in canvas,
just as well as in leather, would you agree?
The second bag is a smaller format. It's a crossbody bag.
Like this, you recognize the design detail
of the tote bag here on the front.
And I don't know if you can see through the camera,
but this zigzag detail here, zigzag in French,
it's actually, you take two
sheets of paper, cut them open,
nest them on top of each other like this,
and then stitch to join them here.
It's in fact a tailoring technique.
So most brands will say, too complicated in production,
I don't know if we can do this,
streamline the design.
But I'm thinking, if you have a skilled atelier
with really precise people,
I don't see why not.
And so I do a design like this,
and that's why this bag stands out.
This crossbody bag fits an iPad,
that's sort of the format,
and a book, and a bottle of water, no problem.
It also has the hidden pocket on the back,
the zipper pocket, and slip pockets inside.
This one also comes with a shoulder strap,
and the embossed ends will always match the material
and the color of the bag.
So right here, it's blue.
The crossbody is a good size for an everyday bag,
if you don't need to carry a laptop.
The crossbody comes in caviar black, which is this one,
stone blue, warm sand,
and the olive green canvas design,
all with the old shoulder straps.
Third one, the clutch,
and its little bracelet right here,
because we agree that a clutch without a hang-free
solution does not do the job I've mentioned
it in my recent video on fashion trends.
I've shown this to a few friends,
and the ladies went like, oh it's a clutch.
I think it's an eye-catcher.
Inside it has a pocket with a zipper and a slip pocket.
You could unclick the bracelet if you want,
just because the sound of the click is really satisfying.
(laughs)
This clutch comes in caviar black, warm sand and stone blue,
which you know already.
An additional color, which is this teal green right here.
I like this one (laughs).
And also in our 100 percent cotton canvas.
So far we have three bags. It doesn't stop here.
I added a makeup pouch.
I think most of us keep a mascara and lipstick
or something from the makeup department in our bags.
And you don't want your makeup to leak inside the bag.
Me neither.
So the idea is keep your makeup
in this pouch and your bag will thank you.
It has a slip pocket inside
for cotton swabs or makeup removal pads,
and it's cushioned to protect glass containers.
I guess you could also keep your jewelry in it, why not?
This makeup pouch comes in caviar black,
which is this one, warm sand,
stone blue, teal green,
and an additional color, which is berry red,
which is this one.
And of course it also comes in our cotton canvas.
And then someone on my team said we need a wallet
to match the bag.
We do. (laughs)
So this is the wallet for the 21st century,
in which we don't need so much space for coins anymore.
What we need is more space for cards.
And so this format of wallet fits into any
of the other bags or simply into your pockets.
I'm opening it for you to see.
Compartment for coins, zip,
compartments for cards,
with more space here at the back on both sides.
And at the top,
space for banknotes or the receipts that you need
to keep or paper in general.
And more material here in the center
so that the wallet can be fully opened.
You know cheap wallets are always missing material
here in the middle and so they're not bendy.
And then snap, close.
The wallets exist in caviar black, warm sand,
stone blue, teal green, and berry red.
So that's the color balance.
That's for the tour of the designs.
But I also want to tell you something
about the materials and the production process.
You know I like high ethics
throughout my entire supply chain
and so I was extremely picky.
I looked for leather that is tanned without chrome.
Chrome is toxic.
It pollutes massive quantities
of water during the tanning process.
Everybody who works in the handbag industry knows it.
And yet, they're still using chrome tan leather,
including luxury brands.
And I didn't want that.
Now leather can be tanned with vegetables only.
It's a bit more expensive, yes.
It requires other skills, yes.
You need better quality leather
to start with so that the final result
has a really nice hand, a nice feel.
But it is possible.
And the tannery that I'm working with now in Portugal,
they tan with plants.
With mimosa, acacia...
words that everybody can understand without chemicals
or heavy metals.
The leather from that tannery is biodegradable.
Even more than that,
they're currently working on a system that they want
to patent to turn their production waste into fertilizer.
That's how clean this leather is.
And the same goes
for all the elements that went into this collection.
They are sourced as sustainably as possible.
It would take too long to cover all of that
in this video so I found a solution for this.
Here's what I did.
Inside each design from the big tote to the small wallet,
you will find a label with a QR code here.
Scan this code.
It will take you to a dedicated page on my website
where I explain the entire supply chain transparently
so that you know what is coming from where and why.
Speaking of the website,
when you go to see my collection,
you might be surprised by how low the prices are.
There are two remarks that I kept getting
from people that were showing the prototypes
to during this project.
The first one was, you're taking on the handbag market.
You're crazy. (laughs) Yeah.
Financing the production with materials
of that quality is super expensive.
Yes, it is a risk.
Yes, you also need super high-skill workers
for a product like this one because with leather,
if you make a mistake, you stitch wrong or something.
You can't undo anything.
You have a hole.
So no mistakes allowed.
But I made these non-negotiable conditions
for this project to happen
and I think I found the right atelier and it worked.
The second remark that I heard
a lot during this project was
from people who actually experienced and touched the bags.
This is so high quality.
You could charge three times as much
as what you're charging Justine.
Yes, I could.
I could.
But I prefer my bags to be worn
by as many people as possible.
I want to get more people into ethical fashion.
I also don't like this approach or this mindset
of what is the maximum price that we could possibly charge.
What about the fair price?
Fair for the people in the supply chain
and also fair for my customers.
All right.
Project Elixir is available as of today on my website,
which is brand new for the occasion,
justineleconte.com/launch.
Shipping starts this week right now
and will be shipping daily from now on.
However, there is a catch.
A handbag collection like this one,
the production takes much longer
than let's say for clothes.
So I've had to place my order for the leather,
the metal elements, which are completely all custom made.
Months ago already,
which means that the inventory is locked.
I can't change it anymore.
The quantity which is being produced per design
and per color is fixed.
When it's sold out, it's gone.
I'm highlighting this especially
with the Christmas season in mind.
If you have your eyes on this collection,
I encourage you to place your order as soon as possible
to make sure that you get the exact designs
and colors that you want.
Actually, I took my guess.
I planned my production quantities.
Let me know in the comments below
which design is your favorite.
We'll see if I planned correctly.
Again, you will find the link to the collection
and to my website down below in the video description.
I sincerely hope that you will wear
and keep whichever design you end up choosing
for many years because that
for me is truly successful design.
Take care.