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When founders Charlotte Bingham-Wallis and Maria Costa (two friends from opposite sides of the world) joined their undeniable creativity and shared experiences of giving back to communities in Brazil—BELO was born. Since 2017, this British-Brazilian accessories brand has not only been kinder to people and the planet, but it is about to make everyone’s summer wardrobe that little bit greener. V.F. sat down with Charlotte to discuss their plans for the future, and why seatbelts (yes, seatbelts) are quite possibly going to be the hottest trend we’ve seen to date.

V.F.: What led you to create BELO and inspire people to give back?

When we created BELO, we wanted to address waste, sustainable community development and challenge the perception of what luxury is and what luxury can be. We started working within our community in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and strived to bring a solution to these issues by using the power of design to mitigate industrial waste from being dumped incorrectly and repurposing these materials into not only wearable, but beautiful products. Maria Costa, co-founder of BELO, volunteered within her community in Belo Horizonte from a young age and in 2016 Charlotte volunteered in South America and worked in some of the poorest communities. Together they decided they could use the same principle to tackle not only hunger but to make a permanent change within Maria’s community and the lives of the people they worked with. They decided to create a bag that you can truly carry kindness with. Every bag sold would create living wages and re-invest back into the community by donating meals to the homeless, Casa de Maria that feeds over 700 people in need every day.

Whilst we are first and foremost a design led brand, our goal is to ensure our customer feels that they do not have to compromise in the slightest by choosing to wear a conscious and community led brand. Although our materials are not traditional luxury materials, the level of craftsmanship skill and attention to detail that it takes to transform existing materials into high level products is astonishing. We want to show that luxury can take place in many different formats and can be looked at with a different lens.

Our impact to date:  7032 meals have been donated, 6451 seat belts, 6316 plastic bottles and 818kg fabric off-cuts have all been saved from landfill.

V.F.: What's your favourite bag and why?

Charlotte: “I love the Green Large Ju Bucket. This shade of green, in my opinion, is the new black. It goes with practically everything and subtly pops with any outfit, yet isn’t too overbearing so you can dress it up and down”.  Maria: “The larger Ju Bucket Bag with all its pockets, makes it so practical to carry everything. Especially with its ability to transform into a backpack”!

V.F.: What are your big plans for the future?

One of our biggest goals is to become a fully circular business. We have already started the process of experimenting with our materials on how to extend their life cycle. Although we are a new brand, we have set up an initiative for when our customers have come to the end of their time with their product and are able to earn credit by returning their bag to us. Every bag will either be restored for resale or will be broken down and reworked into future products. Any materials which can not be re-used will be experimented with to ensure no materials are thrown away and are all repurposed.

We also want to grow our supply chain model first in Belo Horizonte and then replicate in other marginalised communities, both in Brazil and Globally. We have found a way to build a truly purpose driven accessory business, with philanthropy and empowerment factored across the value chain and deep in its DNA, alongside a strategy for long term yet sustainable growth. Our empathy and passion for helping others pervades our vision and filters into all operations. Through those experiences, we developed skills to break down barriers in the community resulting in successful long-term partnerships that allowed us to master our supply chain and create meaningful impact. Our friendship of over 15 years is the fuel that drives us through the hurdles of transforming materials destined for landfill into treasure and managing an ethical company across 2 continents.

V.F.: What is next for Casa de Maria?

Casa de Maria’s founder, Dona Nilza has a dream to build stepping stones for those who are vulnerable to gain their life back as productive members of the community. Alongside their meal donation and tutoring programme that teaches adults to read and write for better work opportunities, she wants to build units for the homeless to have a safe place to sleep and cleanse themselves.

For us at BELO, we incorporated that goal into our company so we can not only support her into making this happen for the Cafezal community but, as we grow, for us to learn how to replicate it into other impoverished communities worldwide.

V.F.: What’s your best piece of advice?

Surround yourself with people and passion. Innovating change can not be done alone. We are so lucky to have partnered with our incredible team, including our incredible mentor Mary Fellowes (luxury sustainable fashion expert, celebrity stylist and fashion editor) and Lainey Sheridan–Young (strategic brand consultant), who all share our passion for design led products and positive change. With their support we have been able to launch in Selfridges, London—something we once thought could only be a dream.

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