A lot of us miss flying, but at least we can soon purchase a sustainable handbag made from things you can find inside a Malaysia Airlines plane—launched by The Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) with Malaysian brand TheSelina. Every material used is made from Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft leather seats, belts and buckles, tablecloths, life vests, and even cabin crew kebaya uniforms.
“The collaboration which combines luxury and sustainability underpins MAG’s commitment for a net-zero carbon emission future through upcycling efforts. These luxury handbags are lovingly crafted and conceptualised with respect and care for the environment by the THESELINA team comprising professional seamsters and seamstresses,” wrote Malaysia Airlines in their press release.
There are five different handbags designed—which you can see in the picture above. These bags have been named after IATA codes to destinations within Malaysia Airlines’ network—the Sierra Yankee Delta (SYD), the November Romeo Tango (NRT), the Mike Yankee Yankee (MYY), the Mike Echo Lima (MEL), and the Lima Hotel Romeo (LHR).
All of the bags seem to have the iconic blue leather associated with the fancy business class seats on a Malaysia Airlines plane. And while the designs all seem to be a little bit basic, the leather details give these bags a luxurious feel to them. They also look like they would be great bags to travel with as they’re pretty big and can fit all sorts of items.
“As the parent company of the national carrier Malaysia Airlines, MAG continues to forge ways to promote socio-economic development and achieving our commitment of recording net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This includes minimising our environmental impacts; positively enhancing the communities we operate in; ensuring safety excellence; driving profitability for the benefit of our stakeholders, employees; and ensuring compliance within the organisation,” said Acting Chief Sustainability Officer of MAG and CEO of Firefly, Philip See.
Malaysia Airlines isn’t the first airline to do something like this. Last year, Singapore Airlines worked with Tocco Toscano to make upcycled wallets, pouches, and other items from Singapore Airlines’ life vests and belt buckles.
Five “personalities cum sustainable advocates in Malaysia” have already purchased the bags—including Ms. Monica Lai—the Director of The RuMa Hotel Sdn Bhd, Datin Shen-Tel Lee—Founder of Kuching Food Aid and Co-founder of Bowerhaus and Sereni & Shentel, Dato’ Azmir Merican—Group Managing Director of Sime Darby Property Berhad, Datuk Razlan Razali—Team Principal of RNF MotoGP Racing Team, and Mr Yong Yoon Li—the Managing Director of Royal Selangor International. These limited-edition bespoke bags are said to be priced from RM882 to RM2,100—and they will be made available via Journify. There’s no information yet on when these bags will be available for non-personalities cum sustainable advocates to buy.
