Since gaining popularity with its puffy series, The Paper Bunny is back with a special limited-edition collection that takes offcuts from past collections and recycled materials made from used plastic bottles and fabric scraps, and turns them into beloved TPB silhouettes such as the Puffer Swing, Puffer Shopper, and Utility Laptop Bag.
Speaking with NYLON Singapore, co-founder and Creative Director of The Paper Bunny Jaime Lee, shared that the concept behind TPB Recraft started with a batch of bags that didn’t pass the brand’s quality control.
“They were not good enough for sale, but we couldn’t bear to throw them away,” said Jaime.
Motivated by the desire to reimagine what could have otherwise been waste, Jaime and her team came up with TPB Recraft — to look at offcuts and discarded materials not as the end of their story, but as the “beginning of something new”.
The Paper Bunny team started by taking stock of their leftover materials such as fabric offcuts from past collections, leftover stock material, and also new materials made from recycled plastic bottles and fabric scraps that have never been used before.
“We wanted to use these materials in some of our most loved and functional silhouettes, while still maintaining the standards of quality and features of what our customers love,” said Jaime.
She added, “Each design in Recraft is unique because of the new materials used — including some with a dual-tone — and they are limited in quantity, making it that much more special.”
It was also important for Jaime and her team to be honest and upfront with her community, and she keeps this transparency in every product description where she specifies what each product was made from.
Developed as a labour of love, the TPB Recraft collection took many hours and days of sorting out and matching what they had from previous collections, and putting together different parts to see if it fits before the materials are turned into something new and beautiful.
“For the leftover materials from past collections — there were limited quantities to each material and colour, and making an entire collection from bits and pieces was a lot more complicated than it looked,” said Jaime.
This, was in addition to The Paper Bunny’s commitment to ensure that the TPB Recraft collection maintains the same standards of quality and hand-feel that you know and love in your TPB pieces.
Of all the pieces in the collection, Jaime’s favourites are the duo-tone pieces, namely the Puffer Swing in Recraft Fawn and the Camper Cap in Recraft Magpie: “They are special and noteworthy, yet super wearable and matches anything in your closet!”
Even though TPB Recraft started off purely as an artistic exploration for Jaime and her team, they wanted to challenge themselves to push boundaries and see where it leads.
“We see TPB Recraft as an opportunity for creativity, and we hope to convey that beauty, creativity and care can exist if we just look a little harder.”
For Jaime, she sees the collection as a “celebration of a shift in perspectives” and added: “Sustainability is not one-dimensional and not just about sacrifice or limitation, but it can also be artful, inventive and full of possibility.”
“Our goal really isn’t to be perfect, of which we are very, very far from, but it is to take on a spirit of exploration and curiosity, and to invite our community to come along with us on that journey,” she said.
While The Paper Bunny has showed how they are exploring sustainability in their crafting process, they don’t “profess” to be a sustainable brand.
To this, Jaime explained, “We think it would be inaccurate for any retail brand to profess to be one, and we never want to come across as greenwashing. For us, sustainability is a journey of progress, not perfection.”
Instead, Jaime and her team believes in providing joyful alternatives to “make sustainability fun, aesthetic and easy to incorporate into everyday life” — a fun reusable, if you will, to add to your daily wardrobe.
Internally, The Paper Bunny team has and continue to make sustainable living decisions such as choosing to lessen single-use options where possible; opting for reusable ziplock and drawstring bags instead of poly bags, FSC-certified or recycled paper and plastics, or other alternatives in their design process.
“Ultimately, we believe in making thoughtful choices that can create a positive impact in our everyday lives,” Jaime said, “It’s about finding simple yet meaningful ways to make a difference.”
Hands-On with the TPB Recraft Puffer Shopper
As someone who is familiar with The Paper Bunny, on account of owning 3 bags, I was never lucky enough to get my hands on the Puffer Shopper until now. Unlike the original Puffer Shopper, the TPB Recraft Puffer Shopper in Gloss has been crafted using recycled nylon though it features the same properties as the original Gloss material.
I compared this with my Puffer Swing in Gloss, and was pleasantly surprised by how similar the material felt. Not only was the recycled nylon smooth and soft to the touch, the overall bag is lightweight — which is a bonus for me as I often carry my laptop out for work and prefer not to have added weight (from the bag) on my shoulders.
One thing that I really love about TPB bags is that they are non-pilling, which really helps eliminate the worry I always get when I feel the friction between my clothes and the bag. Before I started my search for non-pilling bags, I would always have slightly ruined tops because of the cotton-pilling that would occur from the abrasion of my heavyweight bag.
But, after having used the Recraft Puffer Shopper for a few days to carry the full weight of a 13-inch MacBook Air, charger, and a 32oz Owala bottle, I am happy to report that no tops have since been ruined! My shoulders also feel a lot more comfortable during commute, thanks to the pillowy, cloud-like bag straps.
On top of its functional qualities, I have to say that the Recraft Puffer Shopper is an overall aesthetically pleasing wardrobe essential that just matches with my daily outfit. It has also become a unique piece in my collection of bags with its one-of-a-kind Recraft logo which blends embroidery with a plastic-like label.
