GUNAS New York
HIGH FASHION . ZERO CRUELTY
GUNAS is an independent high fashion label with a cause! Started in 2009 by designer and animal lover, Sugandh G. Agrawal. With an award winning design and business background, Sugandh quit her 7-year corporate career as an Industrial designer at KitchenAid to start her own brand of cruelty-free fashion in New York.
What initially began as an all MADE IN NYC label, has now gone global to source and manufacture bags and shoes using artisan and small-scale ethical manufacturers from countries such as India, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Hong Kong. With styles ranging from totes, satchels, cross-body bags, wallets and backpacks GUNAS has a bag to suit your every mood and lifestyle need.
THE BRAND MANIFESTO
We are committed to being a 100% vegan brand. Justice, empathy and compassion are our core values. We envision a world of peace, love and kindness that starts with each one of us. We advocate conscious consumerism over fast fashion. We make “victim-free” fashion full of love for all. We will not participate in any kind of exploitation, be it towards our planet, people or animals.
WHY VEGAN
Veganism is a lifestyle choice that’s all about protecting animals by avoiding the use of objects made from animals, animal by-products or using animal testing. Turning skin into leather requires massive amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals, including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes, many of them cyanide-based. Most leathers are chrome-tanned, a lot of which gets washed away into our fresh water supplies during the process of making leather. People who work in tanneries or live close by often suffer from cancer, lung damage caused by exposure to toxic chemicals used to process and dye the leather. “Non-leather” alternatives account for only a fraction of petroleum used in contrast to leather.
Leather not only causes suffering for the animals but also causes harm to our environment, the people that produce it and also those who choose to wear it.
