By Saira Toppin

Handbag company, Matt and Nat, is an all-vegan line of clutches, laptop carriers, shoulder bags and more. In the 1990’s, designer Inder Bedi was dared to go on a vegetarian diet for 30 days and during this time he created a business plan for an “eco/vegan fashion house.” In 1995 it was written as a university project then bloomed into Matt and Nat in 1997.

Matt and Nat uses environmentally friendly materials to create its line of products. It has projects which seek to use eco fabrics in a new inventive way. Duality 21 is their 21 water bottle initiative, where the spring 2009 collections was made of recycled water bottles. This is not common for many popular designers like Gucci or Prada that use leather or crinkled lambskin as their outer materials. This method is putting our recycled bottles to fashionable use for everyday comfort.

In this day and age, many companies are trying to go green, by changing their materials, reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere, and purchasing new machinery that uses less energy. This handbag line does more than achieve its goals of helping the atmosphere, and also makes stylish trendy purses in the process.

Not only does Matt and Nat protect our environment, but they give back to the community near and far. On June 18^th Matt and Nat will donate $10 to Lydia for every men’s bag sold at the Soho Bloomingdale’s store. Lydia (Liberian Youth: Determination in Action) is an organization which helps former refugee children and teens reintegrate into Liberian society through education scholarships and after-school arts programs. Inder Bedi, owner and creative director, will make a guest appearance at this event and customers will receive a free gift with every purchase.

Visit their site at mattandnat.com for a sale up to 50% (!) off select styles! These are the ones we are coveting: