At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year and make up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and deaths. An issue of this magnitude can’t be solved in a day and needs a lot of money sometimes in the form of a $7 million Boarini Milanesi luxury handbag. Agreed, the most expensive handbag ever in the world, to raise awareness on the need to protect our seas isn’t single-handedly going to solve the grave issue but it’s a relief to know someone is trying. The Italian brand Boarini Milanesi is launching the bag and planning to give 800,000 Euros from the sale of each bag to institutions dedicated to ridding the sea of plastics. The bag means a lot more than just a fashion accessory and is deeply linked to Boarini Milanesi’s cofounder Matteo Rodolfo Milanesi’s personal history. He wanted to celebrate the love for the sea of his father, who passed away when he was only a teenager. “We used to spend every summer at sea, between Greece and Turkey, and I was happiest when we would go on boat trips between the islands” says Matteo Rodolfo. “Even though mass tourism was still a long way off, we would often see plastic bags floating on the water or patches of tar leaked by oil tankers”.
The uber-expensive bag is made of materials that come close to justifying its mammoth price tag of nearly $7 million apart from the charity angle. The top-handle bag is crafted from alligator skin and trimmed with 10 white gold butterflies studded with sapphires, diamonds and Paraiba tourmalines totaling more than 130 carats. The bags are a labor of love requiring 1,000 hours of work to be completed which is why the numbers are limited to just three.
[Via: WWD]
