Not just any bag

This article is part of a series examining Responsible fashion< /em >, and innovative efforts to address issues facing the fashion industry.

"Plastic isn't going anywhere, anytime soon," said Alex Dabagh, who started the Anybag company, whose name is a play on the ubiquity of plastic bags and an ode to its hometown, New York, two years ago.

In kitchens around the world, there is often a cabinet or pantry door hiding a plastic bag filled with other plastic bags.And behind the doors of Mr Dabagh's office in the Chelsea district is a factory that makes plastic bags - bins of different sizes - woven from plastic bags like these.

The staggering view of all the single-use plastic bags that passed through the doors of its main business, Park Avenue International, a 6,000 square foot leather goods factory specializing in the production of handbags for brands such as Gabriela Hearst, Altuzarra, Proenza Schouler and Eileen Fisher, has become too much.

ImageA hand loom, where Anybag textile is woven.Credit ...Photograph by Graydon Herriott

ImageA spool of braided leather and green webbing used for bag handles.Credit...Photograph by Graydon Herriott

ImageWoven plastic strips are used to make the Anybag line.Credit...Photograph by Graydon Herriott

ImageM. Dabagh at his factory, Park Avenue International, where his bags are made.Credit...Photograph by Graydon Herriott

"I was like, we have to do something with it this, there must be a better way," said Mr Dabagh, 40. "If we can weave leather, there must be a way to weave plastic."

He broke down the bags, heat sealed them into long strands - just like a typical textile - spotted them on one of his huge looms and, after a few months of testing and errors, proposed the Anybag prototype which was shown at ReFashion Week NYC in February 2020, weeks after New York State banned plastic bags.

Mr. Dabagh, like many New Yorkers, knows that despite the ban, there are still plenty of plastic bags in circulation...