Circularity

At Piper & Skye, we are driven by a deep passion for circularity; a principle that centres around the reduction of waste and the regeneration of our planet. Piper & Skye’s mission is clear: to design our handbags in such a way as to minimize any sort of negative impact on planet earth, and if possible, assist in its betterment.

- Joanna MacDonald, Founder of Piper & Skye

What is Circularity?

To understand circularity we must first acknowledge the shortcomings of the traditional ‘Take-Make-Waste’ economic model that we are trying to move away from. In this model, companies....

1. Take finite resources from the planet

2. Use those resources to make a product

3. Throw away that product as waste at the end of its useful life.

The difference in a circular business is that the initial design process takes into consideration the preciousness of finite resources, aims to extend a product’s useful life, and intentionally minimizes any negative environmental impact a product will have at the end of its useful life. The net result is the regeneration of planet earth.

Overview:

Principles of Circularity

Design-Out

Waste and Pollution

Beyond just making beautiful handbags, each step of our design process is examined to identify opportunities for waste minimization. Rather than being an inevitable result of production, waste and pollution are seen as design flaws.

Keep Products in

Use For Longer

Coupling a longevity-focused design process with a one-of-a-kind 3 Year Repair & Maintenance program guarantees that your Piper & Skye handbag will remain in your rotation for many years to come.

Help Regenerate

Nature

Adopting a circular business model that utilizes non-virgin material inputs allows Piper & Skye to break the link between economic activity and the extraction of materials from Mother Nature. The result is the regeneration of nature.

In Depth:

Designing-Out Waste and Pollution

Circularity Is Infused Into Our Design Process

Eliminating waste and pollution starts from the moment the design process is undertaken. At Piper & Skye, we have gone to great lengths to design luxury handbags that will have minimal impact on the environment once/if they reach the end of their useful life.

100% Biodegradable - By designing our bags in 100% biodegradable pirarucu leather, they will have no lasting negative impact on the environment once they reach the end of their useful life.
Dematerialization - Using less material means that ultimately, less waste is produced and fewer resources are removed from Mother Nature. Throughout the design process, we are always asking ourselves how we can do more with less.
Interchangeable Components - Many of our handbags are designed with interchangeable components such as crossbody straps. This allows for them to be worn in a variety of different ways so that instead of having to buy two different bags, just one will do. The result is less consumption, and ultimately, less waste.

Use of Materials That Would Otherwise Go To Waste

The use of non-virgin material inputs in the production process directly prevents them from ending up as waste. Piper & Skye is proud to use non-virgin material inputs in 100% of its products. After extensive material R&D, we proudly settled on three primary materials from which to design our bags. Read more about our Material Selection Criteria.

Pirarucu - A giant fish from the Brazilian Amazon, Pirarucu, is a food staple to many local communities. Traditionally, the skins were discarded as waste. By using them instead, Piper & Skye is able to divert the skin from landfills, avoid the use of more carbon intensive materials such as bovine leather, and economically support local Amazonian communities.

Invasive Python - The invasive Burmese Python has wreaked havoc on the Florida Everglades causing significant loss of native wildlife. As a result, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has urged the humane removal of Burmese Pythons. Utilizing these skins in our handbags means less waste produced.

Wild American Alligator - Overseen by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), annual alligator harvests are conducted to maintain healthy alligator populations and raise funds for further conservation efforts. Utilizing these materials allows Piper & Skye to honor the animal and ensure a healthy ecosystems for years to come.

Small Batch Productions Mean A More Unique Product and Less Waste

Fast fashion is plagued by companies carrying large amounts of inventory to keep production costs low. The result is that a significant amount of this inventory eventually ends up in landfills. Our approach to inventory at Piper & Skye is different. By partnering with small scale artisans, we are able to operate small batch production runs allowing us to carry a lean amount of inventory at all time. Lower inventory levels means less potential waste.

Achievement:

In 2025, Our Use of Pirarucu Fish Leather Avoided 8.2 Tonnes of CO₂e Emissions

Piper & Skye’s continued promotion of our flagship material, Pirarucu, which has a carbon footprint 12x smaller than that of bovine leather, resulted in 8.2 fewer tonnes of CO₂e emissions being released into the atmosphere in 2025. This is the equivalent of approximately 9 flights between New York City and London, UK.

A Circularity Case Study:

Dematerialization of the Braemar Tote

Recognizing the over-construction of our Braemar Tote (i.e. excess use of material inputs), Piper & Skye embarked on its first dematerialization mission. Extensive assessment by the design team found that the internal structural material of the side gussets could be reduced significantly while maintaining the integrity of the bag and its quality craftsmanship. As a result, the second iteration of the Braemar was significantly dematerialized by replacing the heavier structure with a lightweight backing.

Shop the Braemar

In Depth:

Extending Our Product Lifespan

3 Year Repair & Maintenance Guarantee

In early 2026, Piper & Skye launched its 3 Year Repair & Maintenance Guarantee. As a major component of our circularity initiative, this program aims to directly extent the life of Piper & Skye products. The program offers customers complimentary repairs to zippers, hardware, straps and stitching. Utilizing this service rather than a third-party, gives the customer access to our in-house hardware archive and the same high quality craftsmanship they originally received.

Karma Credit Program (Coming Soon)

As a central component of Piper & Skye's circularity initiative, the Karma Credit Program (Coming Soon) is designed to give our handbags and accessories a second chance at life instead of ending up in a landfill. Here's how it works:

The first owner of a handbag may return it to us (we pay for shipping)
In return they receive a 20% credit towards their next Piper & Skye purchase
Piper & Skye then performs general care and maintenance on the handbag
These handbags are then donated to women in need through our charity, Safe Transitions.

Care Instructions Provided

When using natural materials a trade-off exists between using more chemicals and having a product that is more susceptible to wear and tear. Staying true to our ethos, we have chosen to source leather materials from suppliers who use organic tanning and dying techniques. This means that greater care is sometimes required. So, to keep Piper & Skye handbags looking their best for years to come, detailed care instructions are provided both on our product pages, and on a 'Care Card' that is included with all purchases.

In Depth:

Helping Regenerate Nature

Use of Pirarucu Disincentivizes Deforestation of the Amazon

A More Sustainable Revenue Stream - By monetizing the skin of pirarucu fish, a food by-product, we provide a sustainable income that disincentivizes local Amazonian communities from turning to environmentally destructive industries such as deforestation and cattle ranching. While cattle farming promotes deforestation and the destruction of biodiversity, the sustainable management of Pirarucu promotes the resilience of the forest and traditional ways of life.

Our use of pirarucu leather supports a scientific community-based pirarucu population management program which was first developed in 1999. Under this program, the pirarucu population has begun to thrive.
Due to the difficulty of monitoring vast areas of the Brazilian Amazon, local communities were granted the right to monitor pirarucu populations, prohibit unauthorized fishing in local protected lakes, and fish pirarucu under government-approved quotas (these could then be used for commercial trade).
The positive impact on biodiversity was rapid and phenomenal. At the Mamiraua Biosphere where the project was first implemented, the pirarucu population increased nine-fold in just eight years.
By economically incentivizing the long term management of pirarucu, biodiversity has flourished.

Use of Wild American Alligator Supports Conservation Efforts

The Alligator Population Is Now Thriving - It may seem counterintuitive, but the global demand for alligator leather is the primary reason the American Alligator was able to move from the brink of extinction in the 1960s to a population of over 4 million today.

This science-based 'Sustainable Use Model' is overseen by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
In the wild, alligator eggs and new hatchlings mostly succumb to predation.
To maintain healthy alligator population levels, landowners sell the rights to alligator nest eggs found on their property to alligator farmers and ranchers.
Once raised in captivity to at least 3 feet in length (the length at which they have few natural predators), 10% of hatchlings are released back onto the land from which they were collected.
Since this survival rate is greater than that of hatchlings born into the wild, the alligator population thrives.
Because a healthy marsh produces more alligators (and thus more revenue), landowners are financially incentivized to keep the wetlands pristine and undeveloped. This simultaneously protects thousands of other species, from migratory birds to rare orchids, that live in the same ecosystem.

Use of Invasive Burmese Python Restores The Florida Everglades

Removal Of An Invasive Species - Accidentally introduced from Southeast Asia, the Burmese python is considered one of the worst invasive species globally, preying on 90-99% of small mammalian life in the Everglades and turning a once-thriving ecosystem into a 'silent grave'. . Using invasive Burmese Python from the Florida Everglades directly supports the removal of this invasive apex predator and directly allows native biodiversity to recover and flourish. As per our supplier, INVERSA, each each python skin used will:

Increase the survival probability of over 39 endangered specifies native to the Everglades
Saves the lives of the 460 native animals that a 13 foot python will consume in its lifetime.
Protect 90% of native species populations from predation.