Meet Maria Cadena! The owner of the exclusive vegan accessory company, Ceibo!

Ceibo is a handbag-accessory vegan brand created by Maria Cadena in Houston, Texas in 2016. Its name refers to the Ceibo tree, one of Maria’s favorite trees which grows along the Pacific coast in Ecuador.

Maria is a self-taught designer from Guayaquil, Ecuador who moved to Houston during 2014. She has a major on Marketing and Economics and started designing women handbags in 2010 when she created her first brand back home using cow leather as the main material.

However, after watching a video about how leather was really made and the impact that this has over the environment, animals and also over the health of the people working in the process.

There was no other choice but to make the switch to vegan alternatives. Making also a huge impact in her daily lifestyle choices and finally becoming vegan.

With Ceibo, she had a clear vision of what the brand would represent on each item. Not just vegan but also environmentally responsible and sustainable. Where the growth of the brand were not be measured on how many bags are produce monthly but instead focus on the quality of the products.

That is why all products are designed and handmade by Maria at her home studio in Houston, dedicating several hours in designing, cutting, sewing and assembling each Ceibo bag. This results in the production of small batches per month. For example, a mini circle bag can take up to three hours and 30 minutes from cutting to final assembling. This ‘slow approach’ encourages taking time to ensure quality production and gives a personal value to each product.

She is currently working with an innovative material (Piñatex) made from pineapple leaves, the byproduct of the fruit industry, which otherwise would be discarded or burned. The brand’s mission is to continue its search of new innovative materials and to ensure that the environmental impact is as small as possible.