How Maison de Sabré built a cult business of bag charms from scraps

FastCompany: Maison de Sabré has spent nearly a decade building a reputation for colorful, beautifully crafted leather handbags. But lately, the thing that makes people fall for the brand isn’t a bag at all—it’s the charms. Its newest collection features tiny, intricate leather flowers—cherry blossoms, sunflowers, and daisies—that clip onto a strap, adding a jolt of personality to an otherwise formal bag. There’s also a bumblebee and a snail to round out the garden themes. Last season’s collection included jewel-toned fruits and vegetables: snap peas, carrots, chilis, and mushrooms.

A recent Pikachu capsule, timed to Pokémon ’s 30th anniversary, sold out almost immediately. [Photo: Maison de Sabré] What most customers don’t realize is that those charms are born on the cutting-room floor, from the scraps of colorful leather left from other bags. These offcuts are part of an ongoing “Sabrémoji” charm line that keeps Maison de Sabré customers coming back to the brand season after season. Since they’re limited-edition offerings—dependent on what offcuts are currently available—they’ve also become collectibles. It’s a waste-prevention strategy that generates sales and lets customers personalize a classic bag.

The clearest sign of how central those charms are to the brand’s identity is the newest bag in the collection. Maison de Sabré recently launched the Soft Trio, a crossbody deliberately designed with clasps and hooks to show off the charms. It’s part of the company’s broader ambition of building the next generation of luxury brand, where sustainability is a central value. [Photo: Maison de Sabré] The New Rules of Luxury Maison de Sabré was founded by brothers Omar and Zane Sabré, who grew up in New Zealand.

They originally trained as dentists, but when their father got sick, they realized they didn’t want to spend their lives pursuing careers that weren’t emotionally satisfying to them. As they talked about the future, they discovered a mutual passion for building a luxury brand that would carry their family name and outlive them. They poured $40,000 of savings into their new label, which launched out of Australia. Its very first product, a line of colorful, leather-wrapped iPhone cases, generated $2 million in revenue in its first year.

After six years of selling directly to consumers, the company—entirely self-funded—has now expanded into retailers like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, and Le Bon Marché in Paris. This has accelerated their growth over the past three years. Today, the U.S. is their biggest market. [Photo: Maison de Sabré] The Sabré brothers have spent a lot of time thinking about what a modern luxury brand should be. Like older generations of luxury consumers, millennials and Gen Zers prize beauty, good design, and durability, but they also expect luxury to be joyful, sustainable, and fairly priced.

(Maison de Sabré bags cost $400 to $800, which is between a third and a quarter of the price of brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel, even though they use similar-quality leather.) They carefully designed a line of bags with classic silhouettes—a traditional structured work bag, a bucket bag, a tote—but make them in a wide range of hues. The leather comes in vibrant orange, sky blue, and bubblegum pink. “Our brand has a streak of childhood nostalgia and unexpected playfulness,” Omar says.

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The article highlights a significant brand strategy that combines sustainability with product innovation, making it highly relevant and impactful for brand professionals, while also presenting a relatively novel approach in the luxury market.