By: Erica Commisso
There’s a lot of goodness in Elvis & Kresse’s luxury products, which are conscious in more ways than one. The handcrafted accessories are thoughtfully made with reclaimed materials like discarded fire hoses and rescued leather, given a new life in the form of chic bags, purses and wallets that exude style.
And while the brand’s environmental responsibility is clear, Elvis & Kresse also focuses on social impact, donating half of its proceeds to various charities. Founded in 2005 in London, the brand is named after its two founders and was born when they saw a stack of Duraline fire hoses piled up on a rooftop at a fire station in Croydon. The pair thought they were too valuable to face an undignified death in a landfill, and instantly set on a mission to rescue them.
Courtesy: @elvisandkresse
Duraline fire hoses are decommissioned either because they’ve reached the end of their 25-year health and safety life, or because they’re damaged beyond repair. And so, out of a desire to save the hoses, the founders started the eponymous brand with a line of simple, timeless and durable belts made from the deep red nitrile rubber.
And now, for over twenty years, Elvis & Kresse have been turning every one of London’s decommissioned hoses into positive social impact: 50% of the proceeds from the Duraline products go to the Fire Fighter’s Charity, an independent organization supporting both active and retired fire and rescue service personnel, support staff, and their families in the United Kingdom.
But that’s far from the only organization Elvis & Kresse supports: Proceeds from the rescued leather collections, such as the Fire & Hide collection, go to Barefoot College, which supports women in business, largely in sustainable solar engineering. The brand has also made donations to WWF, Help for Heroes, Comic Relief, and the British Forces Foundation. And when Elvis & Kresse partnered with Sainsbury’s to make shopping bags from old coffee sacks, the brand used the initiative to make donations to projects that support coffee growers via CafeDirect, the Costa Foundation, David Williamson Rwanda Foundation, Bettys and Taylors and Union Hand Roasted.
Courtesy: @elvisandkresse
And in 2021, the brand took their operations to a farm to improve the regeneration practices within the brand, ensuring that their work gives exponentially more than it takes in terms of water, energy, biodiversity, carbon and community. As a result, the brand is vertically integrated, which allows the duo to ensure that everyone receives a fair and living wage, that they can design with longevity for the circular economy, host a chemical-free and regenerative winery, generate their own power at their sustainable HQ built out of straw bales, in which they host movie nights, workshops, and other events.
And the brand’s impact has caught the attention of one of the most prestigious institutions in the United Kingdom: One of Elvis & Kresse’s most iconic pieces, The Weekend Bag, is on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum as a testament to all that fashion can be, and all of the ways it can use innovation to make an impact in the United Kingdom and beyond.