About Cuskina - Luxury handbags, accessories and homeware

Welcome to cuskina.

In 2008, whilst recovering from a car accident, I started designing handbags.
What began as a small project, quickly snowballed into an uncanny chain of events. During a last minute flight to Italian trade fair ‘Lineapelle’, I found myself seated next to International Design consultant Anthony Vrahimis.  Recognised throughout the industry for his creative & immaculate leatherwork, Anthony has an impressive range of clients from Mulberry to McQueen. It wasn’t long before I was attending his North London Studios for a series of intensive courses in Bespoke handbag design & construction. His infectious passion for detail and accuracy had an immediate and long lasting effect in directing me towards my ultimate goal.

 Recognising a gap in the UK market for an eco conscious luxury brand of handbags and accessories, I began an extensive search to find the best available leather & materials. My priority was to source environmentally sustainable leathers that were not only vegetable tanned, but also free from toxic chemicals. This had to include from abattoir to the production process, thus being kind to humans and the environment.  

 An email request to buy some wool, led to a sample design of handbags for award winning ethical fashion company ‘Izzy Lane’, who later exhibited them at shows including Pret a Porter in Paris and London Fashion week. Designed using the company’s own fabric, one bag in particular caught the eye of online fashion magazine ‘greenmystyle.com’ voting it within their top 10 shoes & accessories seen at ‘Esthetica’ in London fashion Week, Feb 2009.

Excited to press on with my own project, I continued to develop ideas, experimenting with designs using 100% organic wool and sumptuously soft ‘eco friendly’ leather. Whilst acknowledging the practical benefits of an all leather product I was also enjoying the creative combination of using both wool and leather together.
It resulted in a collection, ranging from beautifully detailed leather shoulder bags with high shine metal hardware, to sophisticated casual totes hand knit in chunky British Alpaca wool and buttery soft leather. Thus, ‘cuskina’ was born and now with production   under way for a range of luxury eco accessories and home ware.

Hope you love our first cuskina collection.

Best wishes,
 

 Amanda Cuskin.