Tote [ toht ] – an open handbag or shopping bag used especially for carrying packages or small items.
Couture [ koo-too r; French koo-tyr ] – tailored with intent, with care, with expertise.
Our bags are individually designed and hand crafted from existing material with few totes exactly the same. They are super sustainable and made in the UK. Tote Couture hates waste and cares enormously about the natural environment and longevity. We don’t buy in to disposable, but believe in buying better, buying less.
Favouring linen, our treasured finds are predominately unused, boxed linen tablecloths. Where the linen has been used previously, we wash it and strengthen it with an interlining for extra support.
Our Tote-Couture bags are labour intensive from sourcing through to selling so treasure your Tote and take it with you wherever you go – you never know where or when you will find inspiration, it’s all around.
“It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see”. Henry David Thoreau.
Some may see an old linen tablecloth. Tote-Couture sees an individual, stylish & practical, timeless Tote.
Tackling two pressing environmental issues at once – the issue of textile waste and single use plastic
We are driven by a passion for reducing waste and the natural fibre of linen, the act of making things and love of good craft and design. First and foremost we want to design and make you a practical, beautiful product that you will take care of and make good use of, for years to come.
We take pride in treating each tote-couture bag as an individual, and have never believed one size fits all, therefore no two bags are exactly the same. Whilst each bag is different, what does remains the same is the individual attention to detail and the expertise craftsmanship.
Contact Tote-Couture
Email: info@tote-couture.com
or use our contact form here
About Me
Tote-Couture founder, Pamela McIntyre, has been professionally involved in the made to measure manufacture and tailoring of clothing and costumes for the stage for over 35 years.
She headed the costume department at Glyndebourne Opera and has worked in New York, Milan, Paris, Lyon, and London.
Presently predominately concerned with textile sustainability and waste avoidance, she has turned this concern into an imaginative, creative, couture collection of practical exclusive bags using only existing materials.