12 Brands with Luxe Ethical and Eco-Friendly Wallets For Storing Your Daily Essentials
By Jharna Pariani
On the lookout for somewhere to stash your cash? Your search begins — and ends — here. We’ve done the hard work of sifting through dozens of brands with impressive green credentials to bring you a curated selection of 14 eco-friendly wallets and card holders that will help you stay organized in style.
Most wallets available in the market today are made of faux leather (read: plastic) which is notorious for its unsustainable environmental footprint. This has given rise to vegan leather alternatives that offer the look and feel of leather, minus the negative impact. However, not all forms of vegan leather are created equal.
Suffice to say, eco-friendly wallet alternatives are still a work in progress.
So, what does qualify as a sustainable wallet?
Looking out for leather alternatives in the form of revolutionary biomaterials like Piñatex®, cactus and cork-derived leather (to name a few) is always a plus. Their biodegradable nature and eco-responsible production methods make them an easily sustainable choice.
However, there are brands that also stand by pure leather and its proven durability. Some of them would make the conscious effort to obtain their leather from traceable and certified sources or offset their footprint by using deadstock hides.
At the end of the day, the brand that offers up the most information with utmost transparency will always win in our books.
So, without further ado, here’s our list of eco-friendly and ethical wallets for carrying around all of your essentials.
Note that this guide includes affiliate links and partners. As always, all brands featured meet strict standards for sustainability and are brands we love — and that we think you'll love too!
1. Allégorie
‘When life gives you apples, make chic wallets!’ A tagline we wouldn’t mind pitching to Allégorie, a revolutionary brand that’s actively tackling the food — or more specifically, fruit — waste problem by upcycling discarded fruits from grocery stores and juice factories into beautiful wallets and bags.
Available in a delectable array of cardholders, bi-fold wallets and zip-arounds, you’d be hard-pressed to find such attractive wallets that happen to be made by repurposing waste from apples, mangoes and cactus plants.
Price: $$-$$$
Materials: Apple Leather, Mango Leather, Cactus Leather
2. Svala
Handcrafted in LA, Svala is a PETA-approved vegan brand that offers a range of high-quality wallets suited for women on the go. From minimal cardholders to bi-fold wallet styles that allow you to roam freely with a detachable crossbody chain — these wallets are spacious enough to hold all your essentials, even your phone.
Their products are made using eco-friendly materials like Piñatex®, cork and Italian BioVeg vegan leather that come lined with organic cotton and recycled polyester on the inside.
Price: $$-$$$
Materials: Piñatex®, Cork, Italian vegan leather
3. A_C
Short for Ahimsa Collective, A_C creates plant-based wallets in distinctive styles with a streetwear edge. The wallets come in a sleek yet minimal design, complemented with a detachable chain that can be clipped to your denim belt-loops for a punk-inspired look.
With details so exquisite, you’d be surprised to know that their wallets are actually crafted from a biomaterial called Desserto®, derived from the proteins of the cactus plant.
What’s more? The brand integrates circularity into its operations with a buy-back program that rewards its customers with a 20% discount on their next purchase in exchange for preloved A_C items.
Price: $$
Materials: Desserto®
4. Hyer Goods
Serving a higher purpose, Hyer Goods diverts waste from landfills by using deadstock leather for their range of wallets and handbags. Perfect for those who prefer their accessories to be pocket-sized, functional and sleek — their wallets happen to put the mini in minimalistic.
Discover a diverse range of cardholders, bi-fold zip around, traveller’s wallets and even the kinds that can be attached at the back of your phone for those pesky cards you need handy at all times.
Price: $$- $$$
Materials: Upcycled leather
5. Nisolo
If you prefer your wallets in timeless yet fuss-free styles, then look no further. Nisolo is a certified B corp creating leather accessories that are 100% byproduct of the meat industry; this means that no cows were specifically bred or harmed in order to obtain their hides. Moreover, 95% of the tanneries are certified by Leather Working Group (LWG), a non-profit that audits them for chemical management, environmental compliance, and supply chain traceability.
A huge part of Nisolo’s sustainability work also focuses on ensuring their workers are paid a living wage, which is the income required to live a decent life.
Price: $$$
Materials: Leather sourced from LWG certified tanneries
6. ABLE
Creating sleek wallets out of waste leather hides, ABLE uses leather that is a byproduct of the meat industry and works with tanneries that have the Leather Working Group’s green seal of approval.
With values like ethical production and accountability built into their business, ABLE works with Ethiopian manufacturers that empower women and ensure they make living wages.
We personally love their tri-fold wallet styles where you can store a passport-sized journal and pen in place to help you seize those random creative thoughts.
Price: $$
Materials: Repurposed leather scraps from LWG certified tanneries
7. Elvis & Kresse
Elvis & Kresse was born out of an inspiring motive: to rescue and repurpose heroic materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills. Their humble mission began with upcycling decommissioned fire hoses, that has now expanded to military-grade parachute silks, printing blankets and even luxurious offcuts from British luxury brand Burberry.
The brand’s surprisingly stylish wallets will leave you awe-struck when you realize that they’ve been crafted using robust fire-hoses.
Price: $$$
Materials: Repurposed fire hoses, military-grade parachute silk
8. Tiradia Cork
This PETA-approved Portuguese brand specialises in wallets made exclusively from cork, a sustainable leather alternative made from the barks of cork oak trees. The result? Colorful wallets that offer the feel of leather and look of a tree bark — minus the rough edges.
Each Tiradia cork wallet is handcrafted in small quantities by skilled Portuguese artisans, which helps the brand keep its production close to the source and in turn benefits the local economy.
Price: $$
Materials: Cork "leather"
9. Freitag
Yet another inspiring brand that recycles unconventional materials into fashionable finds, Swiss-based Freitag creates a recycled polyester material from truck tarps (yes, those industrial strength covers seen on trucks) and converts them into minimally chic and colorful wallets.
As opposed to using virgin materials, their brand philosophy relies on using existing materials that are already available and are no longer of use — talk about best out of waste!
Price: $$- $$$
Materials: Recycled polyester from truck tarps
10. BAGGU
Rediscover your love for nineties nostalgia with velcro wallets from BAGGU made from recycled nylon material. We can just imagine that satisfying velcro-scratch sound when we look at their minimalist tri-fold wallet design with ample card pockets, one billfold, with an extra loop that allows you to clip it to your keychain.
Their recycled nylon comes from pre-consumer waste, which saves nylon scraps from being landfilled. Consider this the ideal gift for adventurers, camping aficionados and just about anyone who likes to live life on the edge.
Price: $$
Materials: Recycled nylon
11. Corkor
With designs that define understated elegance, Portugal-based Corkor offers wallets, handbags and accessories that are crafted in cork leather, derived from the barks of cork oak trees.
With a focus on quality over quantity, Corkor retails out of Etsy’s marketplace and runs its production in small batches.
Price: $$
Materials: Cork leather
12. Luxtra
A certified B Corporation, Luxtra offers up an array of minimally stylish wallets that are crafted from an impressive bunch of materials like Piñatex®, AppleSkin™, mango and cactus leather.
From sustainable cardholders to foldable wallets, their styles speak volumes with their understated elegance.
Price: $$-$$$
Materials: Piñatex®, AppleSkin™, corn, mango and cactus leather
About the Author:
Jharna Pariani is a fashion writer and creative strategist whose work is rooted in honesty and deep observation of the world around her. When she isn’t busy penning down her thoughts, she moonlights as a video editor creating fashion and food reels on Instagram for several brands and influencers.
Cover image via Allégorie