Clutch small

Black leather and handwoven panels 

R2R and Kiri Nathan Bag Collaboration

The world shifts in powerful ways when indigenous cultures come together, this bag collection has been collaboratively designed and developed by R2R a wāhine (women) owned and operated Filipino social enterprise in the Philippines and Kiri Nathan a Māori owned and operated business in New Zealand.

All materials used in each bag are intentionally selected for endurance and each piece is handcrafted by artisans from the Philippines. Filipino artisan weavers have shared their traditional knowledge and skills to hand weave the panels on each bag.  The design in the panels was developed by R2R and Kiri Nathan to represent both Filipino and Māori cultures. 

The triangular designs represent maunga (mountains) as a reference to the lands we belong to and the peaks from which we connect to each other over oceans.

Reese together with R2R designer Chris and team, have been developing this bag collection with Kiri since February 2021, through Covid-19 restrictions and across oceans via zoom and email.

Both wāhine (women) are so excited to share this beautiful example of how cultures can come together, be creative, consider people and planet in the process of producing beautiful handcrafted pieces that hold so much meaning and story.

This collaboration is supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono.

R2R Rags2Riches – www.r2r.ph