How KONDRA Bags Come to Life — A Look Behind the Scenes

Made in Ukraine, Slowly and By Hand

If you ever wondered how our bags are actually made, the answer is pretty simple: by real people. Behind every KONDRA bag there’s a small workshop somewhere in Ukraine, and an artisan sitting at a sewing machine, doing their work the way they’ve done it for years. No robots, no automated lines — just hands, tools, fabric, and a lot of patience.

Most of our makers learned this craft long before life started throwing challenges at them. Some had to move to different towns, some lost the places where they used to work, yet they kept going. They carried their skills with them, and they continue creating things they’re proud of. For us, supporting that is extremely important.

Details That Actually Matter

We’re pretty picky about materials. The vegan leather we use has to feel soft but still hold its shape, and it has to look good after a lot of use. When a bag is being stitched, the artisan checks the seam right away. If something looks a little uneven, they redo the piece. It slows things down, of course, but it also makes the bag look clean and intentional — not like something that just came out of a giant machine.

The lining, the hardware, the pockets — people choose these manually. Sometimes the decisions are tiny, but they change how the whole bag feels.

What the Making Process Looks Like

Roughly speaking, a bag goes through these stages:

• choosing materials

• cutting and adjusting patterns

• trimming the pieces by hand

• stitching everything together

• adding hardware and finishing touches

• several rounds of quality checks

When all of that is done, the bags are packed and make their way to us in the U.S. We look through each item again — the stitching, the corners, the shape — just to be sure it’s something we’d be happy to give to a customer.

Why Handmade Still Means Something

Handmade things always carry a bit more warmth. A person spent time on it, stopped to redo a seam, adjusted a corner, made a decision about a detail that no one else will even notice. Because of that, no two bags are ever perfectly identical — and honestly, that’s one of the reasons people love them. You’re not getting something mass-produced. You’re getting something with character.

A Small Way to Support Ukrainian Craft

These bags are more than accessories for us. They represent people who continue working, no matter what, and a craft that deserves to stay alive. Choosing a KONDRA bag means choosing their work, their time, their skill — and a small piece of Ukraine.