JANUARY Muse of the Month: Leila Janah

From being the founder and CEO of two non-profit companies, Sama and LXMI, that aim to end global poverty, to being co-author of book America's Moment: Creating Opportunity in the Connected Age, to being a founding director of Incentives for Global Health, Leila Janah inspires us here at -bl^nk- in so many ways. She shows us that you can wear what you want no matter who you are and what you do in life; "you don't have to adopt a Mother Teresa aesthetic to do meaningful work in this world" she once said when speaking about her bold and bright dress choice. -bl^nk- are enchanted by her gleeful yet classy style and will be closely following her inspiring work projects into the new year.

Using vegan leather at -bl^nk-

At bl^nk we are one of the growing numbers of brands that make a conscious decision to use vegan leather in replacement of real leather for our bags, accessories and outerwear trimmings, alongside trying to stick to only using natural or synthetic fibers (cotton/viscose) in our collections. 
As well as making our own decision to not use real leather, a lot of the workers in our factory are vegetarian and do not agree with using animal products, we respect their wishes and only use vegan leather and faux fur if needed for our designs. 
Each year more than 1 billion cows, sheep, pigs, goats and even dogs and cats in some parts of the world are slaughtered for their skin in vulgar conditions, so we are proud to provide consumers with a more humane option. 
This also give us unlimited choice of colour and texture for our collection. Overtime, the technology has very much evolved and vegan leather now has properties that overcome natural leather (such as being light, waterproof and aging very well) in addition to the guilt free feeling!