About – SPUREN | Handmade Handbags Bags & Accessories | Ethical Fashion | Cruelty-Free Bags

ETHICAL ACCESSORIES ARTISAN MADE NO ANIMAL BY PRODUCTS UPCYCLED TIRE INNER TUBE NO TWO ARE ALIKE LEAVING A POSITIVE FOOTPRINT IN OUR PLANET

How it all began

SPUREN® was founded in 2012 by Erick Ruiz and Sandra Barahona. Our combined experience in business intelligence, marketing, trade marketing, and a love for fashion motivated us to explore an idea that would contribute to the environment and provide jobs to skillful artisans from our home countries and started us on this exciting journey.

After visiting a fair in Apaneca, a small village in El Salvador, where local artisans made small decor items with upcycled tire inner tube they gathered from landfills, we wanted to join the cause and “leave our own track” in the environment by creating the SPUREN® brand. SPUREN is a German word that means “leaving a track.”

Sandra and Erick

Co-Founders

Sandra and I have been married for 6 wonderful years now. We met in El Salvador at a business meeting; soon after we started dating and a short time later we decided to join our lives in matrimony. We live in Florida, and we are passionate in making this world a better place to live.

Artisans behind our products

Since our early steps, we focused on developing a socially responsible company. The SPUREN® brand has grown proud of the meaningful impact it makes on the community by supplying steady jobs, lawful salaries and benefits to salvadorian craftsmen and women.

No two bags are alike and, when looking at the craftsmanship, it’s hard to imagine that certain accents and details of these bags were ever discarded inner tube set to pollute the earth in landfills.

We invite you to read the inspiring stories of our artisans, we feature Raul story and other stories will be posted in our blog section.

No child labor policy

SPUREN® does not hire directly or indirectly boys and girls under the age of 18 in line with the definition of the child under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

SPUREN® opposes any form of exploitation of children and, under no circumstances or in no way whatsoever, does it endorse Child Labor.
Asks that its Partners, Suppliers and Sub-Contractors implement the same Policy and requires to be informed on any divergence whatsoever.
When coming across the practice of Child Labor by any of its partners, endeavors to handle each case separately and act accordingly.
Cooperates with the competent Services and Organizations working against Child Exploitation, in an attempt to contribute to the efforts of the said institutions to tackle the problem regarding child labor.

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Meet Raul

Carlos Raúl was born in Mejicanos, El Salvador on May 14th, 1987. He was raised only by his father. Carlos Raúl started working at 12 years of age in order to help out with the household income and pay for his school expenses. His first occupation was as a leather goods artisan which he learned in a small workshop near his home. Carlos Raúl decided to leave this workshop with the hopes of learning new handcrafting techniques, and soon started handcrafting pistol holsters and belts in another workshop and did so for 12 years. His previous jobs did not provide him a base salary or benefits and payment was only based on amount of goods made, which meant his income would vary constantly. Moved by the need of a steady income and most importantly labor benefits by law such as social security for him and his life partner, he decided to join the SPUREN® artisan team in November 2012.

Today Carlos lives with his father, his brother and his life partner Mirna. His father depends entirely on Carlos Raul´s income. “My biggest goal is to buy a house to improve my quality of life”, Carlos comments, “I have lots of hope that I will be able to achieve my goals” he says.

What every single one of our products offers you

Our ethical accessories and products are handcrafted combining no animal by-products.

Every product is handcrafted by skillful salvadorian artisans, working under ethical conditions, steady income and lawful benefits.

Every product is handcrafted with upcycled elements and accents.