The R. Riveter Process – Procuring the Materials
What makes R. Riveter especially unique is the way we procure and assemble the materials that make up our American made handbags. Our goal is to be a zero-waste company in addition to providing portable income to military spouses.
One of the ways we embrace this is through our Limited Edition bags that are created with retired military uniforms, canvas tents, tent liners and wool blankets – materials that would otherwise be discarded. In order to use these materials, we looked for donations, bid online and even purchased the material ourselves from second hand shops.
As our company grew, the search for these unique materials became more difficult, as we needed to keep up with customer demand. We kept the upcycled military materials strictly to our Limited Edition bags and focused on our mission at hand: to empower military spouses by giving them work to do remotely.
Military materials were created to withstand the test of time, so when we began our search for a new material, we knew it needed to be durable, authentic, resilient and timeless. The result of this growth is our Signature Collection, which is military-inspired, and uses water-resistant canvas. Our appearance on “Shark Tank” also helped to create new relationships and procure new and additional materials, tools and equipment right to our front door.
When it comes to bag production, we are particularly proud of our "leave no material behind" approach. No scrap ever goes unused at R. Riveter. From tent liner bows on our holiday wrapping to canvas envelopes for our gift certificates, we consistently strive for zero-waste. One of our favorites is to create dog collars with the left over leather!
No two bags are exactly alike. Our customers enjoy searching for the occasional minor spot or scrape in the materials, signs that make their bag perfectly imperfect. These slight imperfections are especially common in our natural vegetable tanned leather, which gives the 'R. Riveter look' its natural and authentic appearance.
Show us how you style your unique R.Riveter bag by using the hashtag #bagsonamission with your photos on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
