At the annual ceremony held on 27 August 2025, Leathercraft Winklmayr was named a finalist in the SAPRO Awards 2025 for Best Recycled Plastic Product, recognising our Eco-Fold Bespoke Packaging Solution — balancing sustainable design and luxury craftsmanship.
♻️ From Bottle to Bespoke: A Circular Collaboration
At the heart of this achievement lies a powerful collaboration with Urban Sleeves, South Africa’s trailblazing designer of eco-felt lifestyle products. Together, we’ve reimagined packaging for our exotic leather wallets and purses—crafted from Crocodile and Ostrich skins—by housing them in flat-packable, protective pouches made from discarded South African plastic bottles.
These bottles, once destined for landfill, are reclaimed and recycled by Extrupet, one of Africa’s largest and most advanced PET recyclers. Flakes are then transformed by Inno Textiles, a specialist in non-woven industrial fabrics, into high-performance eco-felt. Urban Sleeves engineers this felt into elegant, minimalist pouches that reflect both form and function.
Product Features That Matter
• Flat-Packable Design: Minimal space, maximum impact. Perfect for travel, gifting, and storage.
• Protective Layer: Shields our heirloom-quality leather goods while presenting them with understated elegance.
• Sustainable Symbolism: Each pouch is a reminder of responsible consumption and conscious luxury.
🌍 A Legacy of Sustainability
This packaging is a statement. It invites our customers to reflect on their environmental footprint and embrace sustainable choices. By integrating recycled materials into our luxury ecosystem, Winklmayr and Urban Sleeves are setting a new standard for eco-conscious design.
We are honoured to stand alongside Extrupet and Inno Textiles as finalists in the SAPRO Awards, celebrating innovation that transforms waste into worth.
Find out more about the collaboration in the video below: