Ecoist

SPECIALTIES
- Repurposed candy wrapper handbags

In 2004, brothers Yair and Johathan Marcoschamer were joined by their mother Helen on a trip to Mexico.  During their stay they saw some fascinating  handbags made from post-consumer waste by Mexican artisans.  Inspired by this concept, the entrepreneurial brothers flew back to their Miami based home and decided to develop a business making products from waste bound materials. 

Ecoist develops unique gifts and fashion accessories for the eco-minded individual.   Its objective is to merge design with social and environmental consciousness to provide style, functional and durable products that people will love to own.  All of their products are made of pre-consumer waste collected from factories that discard them due to misprints and overages.  Ecoist has prevented 15 million candy wrappers from going to landfills. 

Ecoist handbags are made through a fair trade manufacturing partnership with artisans in Peru. Fair Trade is a manufacturing partnership that embarces the following major elements: 1) fair wages to workers, 2) healthy working environments, 3) long term relationships with suppliers, and 4) respect for the local cultural identity.   Fair Trade is an indispensable value of the company.  Ecoist believes that a happy, healthy and motivated workforce leads to continuous improvements in productivity and financial profits for the company.

Since its inception, Ecoist has brought together major companies such as Coca-Cola, Disney, Mars, and Frito Lay, with fashion and industrial designers to create stylish, high quality, and limited collection handbags.