Volvo Car's new women's bag is made of recycled plastic bottles

Sustainable fashion is now the ultimate luxury as the world embraces eco-friendly means to save the environment. Volvo Cars is one of the leading manufacturers when it comes to going carbon-neutral, so it’s not a surprise that it would join the rage for sustainable fashion with a limited-edition Nordico material weekend bag.

In this rare foray into fashion, Volvo Cars teamed up with LA-based fashion brand 3.1 Phillip Lim to create a bag specially designed for the eco-conscious traveller.

Nordico is a new fabric created by Volvo Cars using textiles made from recycled material such as PET bottles, bio-attributed material from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland, and corks recycled from the wine industry.

The material was first used in the Volvo C40 Recharge that was launched earlier this year. Volvo also announced that it will use the Nordico fabric in all its fully-electric models to ensure the cars are completely leather-free but at the same time maintaining its luxury.

Also read: Volvo ramps up electrification with 2021 Volvo C40 Recharge

The eco-conscious bag will also take inspiration from luxtainability: a trend identified in ‘The rise of conscious design’, a report by Volvo Cars and leading trend forecasting company The Future Laboratory to investigate tomorrow’s materials.

The emerging trend is driven by the design world’s desire for sustainable materials - without compromising on quality.

Also read: Volvo goes vegan! Leather-free interior in all models by 2030, starting with 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge

This is something that 3.1 Phillip Lim has been chasing since its inception in 2005. The brand is well-known for pushing the boundaries in sourcing alternative environmentally-friendly materials to create luxurious fashion pieces that are also effortless to style.

Co-founder Phillip Lim, an American of Thai-Chinese descent, first created a carbon-neutral dress made from algae as a start to revolutionise the modern fashion industry.

If you’re interested, or know of someone interested, to buy the bag then bad news because the bag is not for sale. Volvo has made the bag an exclusive limited edition run for people to obtain one through local market initiatives such as charity auctions and giveaways.