Our Story

HAYASHI is an emerging sustainable brand, designing plant-based, leather alternative bags and accessories inspired by a clean, minimalist aesthetic.

Female founded by mother and daughter Kim and Aimée in 2021, HAYASHI was devised from an aspiration to offer contemporary, sustainable and enviable products for everyday living.

Kim with a wealth of knowledge as a leader in the paper world and Aimée previously an Interior Designer with 10 years experience in the design industry, embarked on a new venture in creating a fresh, ecological brand. Their vision was to design functional bags that supported a sustainable lifestyle and were inspired by a clean and minimalist aesthetic.

The name HAYASHI means ‘Forest’ in Japanese and also shares the same meaning as Kim and Aimée’s Chinese family name Lam.

At the forefront the HAYASHI team design with a circular mindset by considering how products are produced, used and disposed of. HAYASHI strive to only use plant-based, recyclable or reusable materials that have minimal impact on the environment. The first collection launched in stores in AW22 under ‘The Paper Collection’ and were all made from HAYASHI paper, a unique plant-based alternative to leather.

Our Material

HAYASHI paper is made of cellulose wood fibres and latex. The tactile material has leather like qualities being water resistant, flexible and ageing beautifully with wear.

The material is dyed using water based non-toxic dyes. All our linings are currently 100% cotton and all packaging is 100% recyclable.

Our Vision

Our vision as a business is for us to lower our carbon footprint and continue to offer unrivalled quality products that are made from repurposed or recycled materials.

Quality

Using HAYASHI Paper natural material, that does not compromise on quality, style or durability is at the core of everything we do at HAYASHI.

The Environment

With every product, we endeavour to reduce the impact our brand makes on the environment.

Innovation

Our innovative material and product designs not only support your day-to-day living requirements, but also help you to take tangible steps towards living a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

Manufacturing

In a world of wasteful fast fashion we are committed to creating responsibly sourced products while minimising waste. HAYASHI look to the future and dedicate time to reflect and see where there is room to improve.

HAYASHI bags are made in China with our close working partners. We hold a strong family-like relationship with our factories and it is important to us to keep building these. We ensure the products we produce are high quality and that our makers cooperate with accredited audits (SMETA and BSCI code of conduct certificates). The material HAYASHI paper is made from sustainable wood fibre and sourced from Europe.

We are always looking to reduce our carbon footprint where possible which is why we avoid air shipping and encourage slower transportation modes via sea which emits up to 150 times less emissions than planes.