Allegorie, a 5-year-old sustainable accessory brand that turns discarded fruits and plants into luxury handbags, has been awarded a grand prize of $50,000 from H&R Block’s “Fund Her Future” grant. Founded and run by Heather Jiang, we proudly stand behind Heather as advocates for her vision, her craft, and her process. Heather started her business in 2019 at the Hester Street Fair and, through all of her success, continues to grow Allegorie’s visibility by selling directly to customers at local markets.
We chatted a bit with Heather to learn more about her process and what sparked her journey:
“What brought us into this was how to reduce food waste. Food waste is a massive cause of global warming, yet it is a problem that we can all do something about on an individual level. We were familiar with plant-based materials, such as canvas and jute, which are resilient and versatile. So we started to explore other plant-based fibers and eventually landed on a few that could be produced in batches all year round and make the most impact. For example, pumpkin fibers work, but the vegetable is only thrown out in bulk for one or two months of the year.”
Heather continues, “For novelty materials like this, an online presence is simply not enough. Customers needed to touch and feel the materials in person. Hester Street Fair was our first breakthrough, where we presented our products to potential customers in person, and everyone was wowed. It also opened a lot of opportunities for us to meet like-minded entrepreneurs and artisans.”
