We believe that knowing where our products come from, who made them, how, and when, should be a standard, rather than a luxury. Which is why we have built STELAR from the ground up, building each relationship and putting every step of our supply chain in place ourselves.
Starting with our locally sourced raw materials, most of which are from within Indonesia, we work directly with suppliers to select our materials, minimising waste and maximising quality at each step.
Bamboo is indigenous to Indonesia and has been used for centuries to weave utilitarian objects such as baskets and mats.
It grows easily and quickly, regenerates itself and is highly durable which makes it a great material for a conscious brand like ours to work with.
The bamboo we use is grown organically and harvested by our artisan communities, then dried naturally in the sun before it is ‘split’ into different thicknesses and woven into panels to create our bags.
We work with several communities in Lombok, up-skilling and re-interpreting traditional bamboo weaving techniques to create our unique range of vegan bamboo bags.
Due to the characteristics of the material and the weaving methods we incorporate, our bags are light weight, flexible, and very resilient.
Using time-honoured skills and created to last for years to come, our bamboo bags reflect our dedication to fine craftsmanship and slow fashion.
Our leather is sourced from tanneries in neighbouring Java, that are committed to organic farming and the ethical treatment of animals, as a by-product of the meat industry only.
Our suppliers promote sustainable farming practices that reduce deforestation and utilise eco-friendly waste disposal systems.
They only use low-level chemical tanning and low water management during the tanning process, both of which result in minimum environmental impact.
The leather we use for weaving is hand cut into narrow strips by highly experienced craftsmen and then hand woven on locally made wooden frames. Both of these processes eliminate the air and noise pollution that would normally result from mechanised production.
For the foreseeable future, we have chosen not to work with vegan leather substitutes as these are coated with micro plastics and are non-biodegradable.
In the meantime, we continue, on an ongoing basis, to research natural vegetable leather alternatives, and will make this shift in materials once we are completely confident they fulfil our sustainability and environmental credentials.
"It’s great to see an independent brand like STELAR incorporating sustainable practices into the identity of their brand."
Clementine Jackson, Country and Townhouse
We aim to bring the authentic stories of the people and skills behind our products to the forefront of what we do. Each and every artisan comes with a wealth of knowledge and insight that has been passed down through generations.
We love learning from them, about their families, the skills they have inherited, the land they cultivate around them, their food, culture and the community they live within. And we believe their skills are worth supporting and their stories worth sharing.
Every year we support #FashionRevolution as part of a global movement to campaign for systemic reform within the fashion industry with a specific focus on the need for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.
We design and make our products to last, using brass for our hardware due to it’s high quality, hard wearing characteristics.
By investing in an alloy that is recyclable and following low impact manufacturing processes, we aim to minimize our environmental impact as much as possible. While brass represents only 5% of the materials we use across our range, we continue to work to reduce this further where we can.
