Inua Workshop
L'atelier I nua is a French artisanal leather goods brand created in October 2019 by Stéphanie, a nature lover concerned about the protection of animals and the environment .
She makes her own vegan bags in her small workshop near Lille and chooses cork as her preferred material. She is particularly fond of this material which comes from Portugal and which has many advantages for leather goods : waterproof, flexible, light, resistant and above all eco-responsible . Indeed, cork is harvested from the cork oak without the need to cut down the tree. The bark grows back naturally, you just have to let nature do its thing.
For the inside of the bags, the Inua workshop chose natural linen. In a zero waste approach, it comes from the end of a roll from a Masters of Linen weaving mill in France less than 50km from the workshop. Its resistance and flexibility properties make it a suitable material for bag linings with a long lifespan. This local plant has a very low environmental impact because its cultivation requires little irrigation and pesticides.
Inua is a word from the Inuit language, it is the breath of life that animates us all. For the Inuit people, human beings and animals are equal. It evokes respect between all animal, plant and human species without one taking precedence over the other.The Inua workshop is driven by the desire to promote French artisanal manufacturing and the love of a job well done, and to put these values back at the heart of our society.
Stéphanie has always been passionate about textiles and studied textile engineering in Lyon, then she trained in clothing in evening classes for 2 years in Paris.
After several years of IT service provision in Paris, she set up tools for the digital conservation of heritage for a Parisian fashion house for 8 years. In contact with the Maisons d'Art, she discovered the beauty and know-how of the little hands . Embroidery, hand sewing, leather goods, each piece is highlighted and sublimated thanks to the work of the craftsman.
In parallel she sees again s our lifestyle in depth and turns towards veganism and zero-waste.
Looking for alternatives in non-leather fashion accessories, she quickly came up against reality: very often the substitute used was made from plastic, an alternative that was far from being ecological.
To reconcile her vegan, ethical and ecological values , she decided to launch her own brand. and forms has entrepreneurship and digital/web.
With the I nua workshop She wants to respond to the problem of vegan, sustainable and handmade fashion, so she creates ecological, plant-based and sustainable leather goods!