Kipling store opens in Malta with vegan-friendly bags

Kipling Store - Malta

I had posted a week ago about the availability of vegan accessories in Malta. Later,  I’ve received an invite for the grand opening of the new Kipling store in Malta. Before accepting I quick searched Kipling to see if their products are relevant to this blog. I was happy to find Kipling as one of the vegan bag brands recommended by vegan blogs. That’s when I accepted the invite.

While searching for the brand, I found out that the name originates from The Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling. Hence why their brand and their bags have a monkey.

I couldn’t wait until I visit the new Kipling store so that I learn about a new possible vegan-friendly brand and check the Kipling bags myself.

The day had arrived. My sister and I went to Baystreet, St Julians to check out the new Kipling store. After we got in we were given a goodie bag which had a Kipling wallet, a Flormar (cruelty-free) nail polish, a catalogue, a €10 voucher and some hard candy. The party at the Kipling store had already started, there was a DJ, wine and finger food. I took a glass of wine which was given to us by Keziah, who introduced us to the brand.
 

Photo: Patrizia Madiona (https://www.facebook.com/madionap/)Kipling Launch

Posted by Kipling Malta on Friday, June 2, 2017

 
Keziah started by telling us how the famous nylon material was discovered by accident. Three Belgian friends have decided to start a bag company. While testing out a sample the nylon the nylon shrank due to a hot dye, which resulted to their famous water-repellent and durable nylon.

Then Keziah moved on by telling us the benefits of buying a Kipling bag. Kipling offers a 2-year guarantee on their bags. Yes, they have a guarantee but only 1% of the bags had problems. Their bags are water-repellent, doesn’t get easily dirty and durable. They test each product from the material to the zip to the seam.

Having a guarantee and testing each part of the bag are very important points to me. The reason being that I had already a bad experience with a bag company. Like when I’ve decided to invest a bit more than usual and buy myself a Carpisa bag, thinking that it’s good quality and durable. This Carpisa bag started to peel off a month later and some months later the zip didn’t close well. I went to their shop to see if they can help me get it fixed or at least sell me a new zip but they said that there’s nothing they can do. I never bought from Carpisa again.

Another interesting point about Kipling that Keziah highlighted is that their products are so practical that they have all the pockets and compartments that you need. They also have a clasp inside where you can attach your keys so that you don’t have to hunt for them in your bag. This is another point that struck me as it’s not the first time that I look for something in my bag. If I don’t find it I go to look it up everywhere else. Then I go back to my bag and empty it just to find that it was there the whole time.

Their mascot is a monkey and every bag has a monkey keychain, some in metal and some furry one. Don’t worry, I’ve checked the fur it’s fake. The fake fur monkeys are in different colour and size depending on the bag model. To make the bag more personal, each furry monkey of a particular size and colour has a name. The names are of international Kipling employees and loyal customers. I see this as if with every bag you’re adopting a monkey.

One last point is that Kipling has 5 product categories which are leisure, kids, travel, work and everyday. Since I currently look for smart bags, the bags I’ve already considered to buy are in the work and everyday categories.

Thank you, Kipling Malta for the invitation. I really loved learning about your brand in more detail and can’t wait to see your eco-friendly products in July.


DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored post. I wasn’t asked or paid to post about it. My intention is to raise awareness of vegan fashion products in Malta.

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(a.k.a. Fiona Henschel) Malta-born blogger. I have been blogging during these last 6 years on my cruelty-free lifestyle including recipes, beauty and makeup products that I discover, receive, buy and try.