Sustainability

Manu Atelier’s ethos includes a sense of permanent responsibility to the world we live in.

Our brand name symbolizes that sense of responsibility and sustainable reflection. ‘Manu’ comes from the Latin word ‘Hand’ as all of our products are handcrafted in our in-house Atelier.

Our mission is to develop timeless products that have longevity. We believe that consuming better and more consciously is the way to a more sustainable world.

We believe in transparency and that’s why we pride ourselves in our local manufacturing and our vertical production system. “Producing our bags in our own workshop provides us with a great advantage in regards to sustainability. It provides an opportunity to have more control of all production stages and overall, more control over the quality of our products’’.

Our vertical manufacturing means less transportation and therefore less pollution. It all begins with our leathers being locally sourced. From the design stages to the local sourcing of the raw materials to the actual production, all stages are handled locally in our in-house workshop.

While producing our products, we focus on choosing high-quality materials and techniques that have less impact on the environment. The leather we use has had minimal chemical treatment and therefore is less harmful to the environment. Our production focuses on minimum wastage by hand cutting the leather patterns. Hand cutting means more control of material and minimises the heavy wastage that usually occurs when using machinery. As we operate a zero-waste policy, we also recycle any leftover materials and re-use them for the lining on our bags or to create up-cycling products.

We don’t use heavy machinery as our handcrafted products are all hand stitched and painted by highly skilled artisans all trained by our father Adnan Manastır, one of Turkey’s most valuable leather artisans. Adnan takes the time to pass down his knowledge and expertise to the next generation as he says that the secret to creating a beautiful product is patience and passion.

We pride ourselves in our artisanal production, a unique ‘savoir-faire’ as a legacy from our father. All these techniques are unique to our production. From leather hand cutting, edge painting, and moulding to shaping and hand stitching, all are done by hand by our skilled artisans in our atelier. These artisanal techniques means that we mainly use our workforce which requires less machinery and therefore consumes less energy.

As part of our commitment and ongoing efforts to contribute to a better future, we have significantly reduced the amount of packaging containing our products.

Our Sustainable commitment ensures the following;

Sustainable Materials: Our local leather tanneries are certified by LWG, the Leather Working Group, a non-profit organization who ethically source leather from environmentally certified suppliers and promotes sustainable environmental practices.

Ethical Production: We are a SEDEX member, the global membership organisation dedicated to driving improvement in ethical and responsible practices in global supply chains. SEDEX audits are conducted every year to control labour standards, health & safety, environment, and business ethics.

Women’s empowerment: We aim to support women by providing jobs for them at every level especially during the recent pandemic we focused on hiring artisan women that had recently lost their jobs. We also work with local charities to help them with their education. It’s our mission to provide women with opportunities and support them through their journey.

Luxury & Craftsmanship: Exceptional design, artisan heritage, high quality materials that are timeless and our artisanal production minimizes the impact on the environment.

Recycling & Upcycling: We focus on a zero-waste policy. All leftover fabrics are put aside and recycled somehow later, either reused for other bags or recycled to another purpose.