vLane Blog

Luxury handbags made from tractor tire inner tubes

From AshleyW, Featured Contributor
Posted on May 14, 2009

Filed under Luxury, Environment, Green, Misc, lifestyle, design, rubber, custom, accessories, women, Passchal, handbags, bag

When I think of tractors, the images that come to mind are: wheat, tall grass, large fields, and corn. Never — ever — have I associated tractors with luxury bags, but that's about to change.

It all started in 1999. Angela Greene, an inventor, along with Ken Kobrick, a former welder decided to create bags made out of discarded tractor inner tube tires after Greene bought a backpack made out of inner tubes. Passchal was created soon after, and the variety of bags you can buy made out of inner tubes is fascinating. They launched Passchal in 2004 and have recycled 26 tons of inner tubes creating these innovative luxury bags.

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Messenger bags, clutches, totes, big bags, small bags, small straps and long straps; Passchal has a bag for every use. I personally like large bags…the bigger the bag, the more things I can put in it. For a night on the town, I defenitely like something smaller and the black or yellow clutch would suit me just fine. The "Crunch Clutch" in black, combines leather and inner tire tubes as all of Passchal handbags do. This particular bag features Australian crunch lambskin, a zipper pocket, lining and only weighs about one a half pounds.

None of these bags look like they're made out of tractor tire inner tubes. With the variety of colours, shapes and sizes, you really can't tell. The "Uptown" handbag comes in black, blue and black, and brown and black. Nickel accents are on the straps and both sides of the bag. I like the top zipper as well that closes the entire bag, giving you piece of mind that your belongings are out of sight. All the leather is dyed with vegetables and is chrome free also. The tractor tire inner tubes used come from Georgia, Virginia and Ohio.

Passchal bags are very classy and functional for a number of different occassions. I'm really impressed with their designs and a messenger bag created just for men. My favorite feature would be the LED lights within the bags. (Two thumbs up!) Perfect for someone like me who can never find their chapstick, pen or cell phone. Their range of bags is priced between $75-$525.

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• "Automotive Footwear Week"
• Porsche Design baby clothes

AshleyW is a featured contributor for vLane.