A Carbon Footprint 12x Smaller Than Traditional Leather - When we chose pirarucu leather for it's sustainability story and the role it played in environmental stewardship, quantitative data did not yet exist to back up these claims. So, in 2022 Piper & Skye commissioned a research consultancy to determine the carbon footprint of our signature material. With a verified carbon footprint of 54 kg CO2e/m², pirarucu leather was found to be 12 times less carbon-intensive than traditional bovine leather. In 2025 alone, this material choice prevented 8.2 tonnes of CO2e emissions from entering the atmosphere - the equivalent of 9 flights between New York City and London, England.
- Culture of Decarbonization - Piper & Skye’s culture of sustainability permeates every aspect of the business, and drives decarbonization efforts.
- Responsible Practices & Sustainable Sourcing Policy - Drives decarbonization by mandating a preference for non-virgin, regenerative materials, and prioritizing local manufacturing.
- Environmental Policy - Requires that inbound and outbound freight be transported via the lowest environmental impact methods.
- Sustainable Travel Policy - Mandates virtual collaboration as a first option and prioritizes low-carbon travel over air transport when possible.
- Green Office Policy - Minimizes Scope 2 emissions through a remote-first hybrid work model and rigorous energy conservation measures.
ESG Report
E: Environment
We Don't Just Conserve Nature, We Regenerate It.
'Responsible Luxury' isn't just a tagline; it’s our operating system. At Piper & Skye, we have centred our environmental strategy around three non-negotiable pillars: Minimizing our carbon footprint, helping regenerate nature, and reducing waste. To this end, we have legally amended our corporate structure to mandate that every business decision prioritizes the environment equally alongside financial performance. We find ourselves in the unique position to honor what we have borrowed from nature and create beautiful handbags with the utmost respect for our planet and everything on it.
Minimizing Our Carbon Footprint
Helping Regenerate Nature
Preservation of the Amazon - By making use of the pirarucu fish skins (a food by-product which would otherwise go to waste), we provide Amazonian riverine communities with a new sustainable source of income. This financial stability disincentivizes locals from turning to environmentally destructive industries, such as cattle ranching and illegal logging, effectively protecting the Amazon rainforest and preserving the 'lungs of the Earth'.
Restoration of the Florida Everglades - Piper & Skye goes beyond conservation to active restoration by turning an ecological crisis into a luxury solution. As environmental agencies do their best to remove the invasive Burmese Python which has decimated 90-99% of small mammalian life in the Florida Everglades, Piper & Skye utilizes the leather to actively support these conservation efforts. In 2025, we significantly expanded our selection of products featuring this material in hopes of doing our part to help restore the native biodiversity of the Everglades. Each python skin used will:
- Increases 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.
- Protects 90% of native species populations from predation.
Sustainable Use Model in Supporting Alligators - Overseen by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and tracked through the use of CITES tags, this conservation effort is widely heralded as one of the most successful ever. In the wild, alligator eggs and new hatchlings largely succumb to predation. To maintain healthy population levels, landowners are able to sell the rights to alligator nest eggs found on their property to alligator farmers and ranchers. Once raised to at least 3 feet in length (the length at which alligators 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. Since 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.
Reducing Waste Through Source Reduction
Material Selection Criteria - The materials that Piper & Skye chooses to create beautiful handbags and accessories have been hand selected for their role in reducing waste in some form. This requirement is laid out in our Material Selection Criteria as one of the criteria is that leathers would be otherwise be considered a waste product (headed for a landfill) unless passed-on to designers and artisans. Whether it be pirarucu leather which is a food by-product, or python leather which would otherwise be discarded following environmental conservation efforts, choosing these materials allow us to avoid extracting virgin materials from Mother nature.
3 Year Repair & Maintenance Program - The 3-Year Repair and Maintenance Program is a cornerstone of our circularity strategy designed to extend the lifespan of Piper & Skye products and prevent them from becoming waste. By offering complimentary repairs on hardware, stitching, and straps, we ensure that minor wear and tear does not lead to premature disposal, thus keeping our handbags in active circulation and out of landfills. This program leverages our extensive archive of original hardware to maintain the authentic aesthetic of every piece, reinforcing our philosophy that luxury goods should be durable heirlooms rather than disposable commodities.
Perpetually Reducing Waste Through Source Reduction - The concept behind source reduction is simple: Eliminate waste before it is produced. Rather than trying to deal with massive amounts of waste once produced, products should be designed, marketed and sold in such a way that the amount of subsequent waste is minimized. Source reduction at Piper & Skye is achieved through four channels:
Extending Product Lifespan Through Versatility
By designing handbags with increased versatility (e.g. the inclusion of multiple straps of different lengths to create different wearing options), we seek to help reduce overconsumption from buying multiple handbags..
Source Reduction in Product Design
All Piper & Skye handbags are designed to minimize waste through the use of simple and sustainable biodegradable materials, minimizing the number of components used, and avoiding the use of harmful chemicals. Our focus on sustainable design adds further to the beauty of our handbags.
Sustainable PackagingThrough the intelligent and thoughtful design of product packaging, Piper & Skye is able to minimize this all-too-abundant waste source. Acknowledging that a minimum level of waste is unavoidable, Piper & Skye chooses to source packaging and print materials only from FSC certified companies, and is committed to eliminating the use of all plastics.
Lean Inventory System
With some of our higher end bags being made-to-order, and our inventory management system being incredibly lean, Piper & Skye has significantly reduced the risk of unsold inventory ending up in landfills.
S: Social
Changing Lives For The Better
True luxury is defined not by the exclusivity of the product, but by the dignity of the hands that create it. Piper & Skye has legally amended our articles of incorporation to decouple our decision-making from pure profit maximization. Instead, we are mandated to also prioritize the wellbeing of our artisans, employees, and communities in every business decision. From the Amazonian basin to our headquarters, we operate on a foundation of inclusivity and respect, ensuring that everyone in our value chain is empowered to succeed.
Supporting Our Team Members in Work and Life
A Culture of Well-being - Psychological safety is a non-negotiable asset at Piper & Skye. As numerous research studies have indicated, employee satisfaction is not only correlated to fair pay. We have worked hard to cultivate a workplace sanctuary where every team member is empowered to bring their full, true self to work without fear of judgment or discrimination. Our rigorous DEI Policy and zero-tolerance approach to harassment are the foundation of a our work family. We celebrate our differences as our greatest strength, ensuring that dignity and respect are the foundation of our interactions. With zero voluntary resignations in over one year, we believe we're achieving what we set out to do.
- Pay At Or Above The Industry Average - To retain the best employees, Piper & Skye has committed to paying wages at or above the industry average. In a world where the effects of cost cutting often fall directly on frontline employees, Piper & Skye has taken the opposite approach in believing that by attaining and retaining the best people who are most committed to their job, we can minimize costs related to employee turnover, new employee training, and shifting team dynamics. By rewarding long-term commitment to the company with fair pay, we have successfully retained a strong core of team members who, given their history together, are able to work collaboratively with above average efficiency and productivity. Our success speaks volumes.
- Right to Disconnect - We measure impact, not hours. We reject the 'always-on' culture in favor of sustainable work excellence. At Piper & Skye we have institutionalized a Right to Disconnect Policy that strictly protects personal time, ensuring that no team member is expected to respond to communications outside their self-determined working hours. By coupling this with a flexible 'work from anywhere' model, we prioritize mental well-being as a critical business asset. This trust-based approach works: in 2025, we recorded zero voluntary team member resignations, proving that when you empower people to unplug, they return with greater purpose and creativity.
Using Our Supply Chain To Make Positive Change
Empowering Local Amazonian Communities - Choosing materials like Pirarucu leather is a deliberate strategy to drive economic empowerment of local communities. By monetizing skins that are a food by-product, we provide Amazonian families with a crucial source of income that funds essential needs including education, healthcare, and housing. This financial stability is transformative, as it enables communities to maintain their traditional way of life and resist the pressure to engage in environmentally destructive industries like illegal logging or cattle ranching. By including these communities within our supply chain, Piper & Skye is empowering them to manage their own resources and break free from historical cycles of exploitation and debt.
Manufactured Locally in the USA - Our primary manufacturing is anchored in the United States, where we partner with a small, family-owned atelier in New Jersey to bring our designs to life. This intentional localization allows our Production Manager to conduct weekly site visits, ensuring that every aspect of operations, and every stitch, meets our high standards of luxury and ethical compliance. By keeping production on-shore, we ensure that the economic value we drive creates jobs and investment within our own communities.
- We Only Work With Suppliers Who Share Our Values - At Piper & Skye, we believe that we are not only responsible for what we do, but also what our suppliers do. This radical accountability is something that forces us to closely examine all of our suppliers to ensure that their values on social aspects and treatment of their employees, match our own. To achieve this, we do not rely simply on handshakes and trust; we rely on our Manufacturer's Code of Conduct (which aligns with the UN Declaration of Human Rights and ILO Conventions), and the right to perform unannounced audits of suppliers at any time. Stipulations include:
- Zero Tolerance Policy - We enforce an absolute zero-tolerance policy for child labor, forced labor, and discrimination. If a supplier cannot prove they provide "decent work" and safe conditions, they cannot work with Piper & Skye.
- Living Wages Are Non-Negotiable - We demand more than the legal minimum. We prioritize partners who pay a living wage, ensuring that the artisans who craft our goods can afford a life of dignity, not just survival.
- Freedom of Association - We strictly mandate that all workers have the right to form or join trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.
A Heart For Philanthropy
Support For Survivors Of Domestic Abuse And Human Trafficking - Safe Transitions is the humanitarian engine of our brand, established to bridge the critical gap between crisis intervention and long-term stability for survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking. Through this organization, we secure fully furnished, safe housing for women and children leaving the shelter system, covering 100% of their rent and wraparound support costs for one year to ensure a dignified fresh start at life. In 2025, we scaled this impact internationally, expanding operations into the United States and successfully providing 14 women and their children with 12 months of fully subsidized housing and the essential resources needed to transition from surviving to thriving.
G: Governance
Ensuring That All Decisions Are For The Greater Good
Corporate governance is defined as the internal system of practices and controls that a company has to govern itself responsibly. This structure is designed to ensure that all actions of a company are aligned with its corporate ethos. At Piper & Skye, having a comprehensive system of checks and balances in place to identify and correct issues early is of utmost importance. This allows us to ensure that a company’s entire governance team (senior leadership, board of directors, etc.) are all champions of the company’s corporate values of Responsibility, Respect, and Community. Explore below how Piper & Skye's holds itself accountable.
Amendment to Articles of Incorporation
Sustainability isn't a marketing layer; it is written into our legal DNA. In 2019, Piper & Skye legally amended our Articles of Incorporation to fundamentally shift our corporate governance structure to decouple our decision-making process from solely the pursuit of profit maximization. This amendment mandates that our directors must consider the short-term and long-term interests of a broader range of stakeholders including employees, suppliers, consumers, the environment, and the local community, rather than just prioritizing shareholder value. By encoding this commitment into our legal framework, we ensure that our values of Responsibility, Respect, and Community are not just voluntary guidelines but binding legal obligations for our leadership. This structural change is a critical step to solidify our status as a business that operates for the greater good.
“The directors shall, acting fairly and responsibly, consider the short-term and the long-term interests of the corporation, including, but not limited to, the corporation's shareholders, employees, suppliers, creditors and consumers, as well as the government and the environment (the "Stakeholders"), and the community and society in which the corporation operates, to inform their decisions".
Our Policies Are Our North Star
Piper & Skye governs our internal operations with the same rigor that we apply to our supply chain, utilizing a comprehensive suite of policies to codify our values into daily practice. These ensure that our standards for integrity are explicit rather than implied. To ensure that these standards move from the page to practice, we utilize Trainual, a digital onboarding platform, to centralize our governance structure and ensure it is transmitted to every team member. Mastery of these modules is a mandatory requirement for all team members, guaranteeing that everyone, from leadership to new hires, operates from the same baseline of compliance and ethical understanding. By making governance a continuous learning process, we ensure that our core values of Responsibility, Respect, and Community are actionable realities. Our policies include:
- Business Code of Conduct
- Code of Conduct Policy
- DEI Policy
- Employee Handbook
- Environmental Policy
- External Code of Ethics
- Green Office Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Internal Code of Ethics
- Manufacturer Code of Conduct
- Respectful Workplace Policy
- Responsible Practice & Sourcing Policy
- Transparency Policy
External Sustainability Audit and Certification
We refuse to grade our own homework. Instead, we voluntarily submit our entire business ecosystem to one of the most rigorous independent sustainable luxury assessments available, the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark . This process goes far beyond a simple checklist; it is a forensic examination of our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG+) performance that requires us to re-qualify every two years against standards that become stricter with every cycle. By anchoring our claims in verified data, we ensure that our sustainability journey is defined by measurable progress rather than convenient marketing.
The Connected Butterfly Mark: We have operationalized "radical transparency" by embedding the Connected Butterfly Mark directly onto our website. This digital tool gives you instant, verified access to our audit scores. You don't have to take our word for it; you can click the mark to see exactly where we excel and where we still have work to do.
