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Southwest Airlines Community

Possibilities Take Flight with Unshattered

Ana
Employee
Employee

Southwest Airlines is excited to welcome a new partner—Unshattered—to our Repurpose with Purpose family. Repurpose with Purpose is our global sustainability initiative that upcycles items such as leather seat coverings, and partners

with social impact organizations, including Unshattered, to transform the leather into new products.

 

Located in Hopewell Junction, New York, Unshattered is a 501c3 nonprofit that employs women in recovery to make premium handbags and accessories out of upcycled materials. Unshattered’s mission is to end the addiction relapse cycle by providing pathways toward economic stability and long-term sobriety. Through their unique business model, employees are provided with employment, personal development training, community, and a second chance at life after addiction.

 

Unshattered Backpack Repurpose with Purpose.jpg

 

When we learned about Unshattered’s mission and their plan to use upcycled leather for a new product line of travel bags, we knew it would be a LUV connection perfect for Southwest and our Repurpose with Purpose program! Using donated Southwest leather seat covers, Unshattered created the Possibilities Take Flight collection of travel bags and accessories.

 

Southwest Collection Unshattered.jpg

 

These beautifully designed bags were handcrafted and sewn by a team of professionally trained female artisans overcoming their battle against addiction. Each handbag is unique and has a story, like the women who make them. Honoring the Japanese art form of Kintsugi, where cracked pottery is repaired with gold lacquer to highlight the breaks, each bag has a seam of gold thread and serves as a metaphor for the women artisans, who are themselves more beautiful for having been broken.

 

Unshattered Employees Repurpose with Purpose.jpg

 

Just like the upcycled Southwest seat leather used to craft these bags, the women of Unshattered are being made new again. These bags are changing the lives of the women who craft them, providing pathways toward economic independence and sustained sobriety.

 

We are pleased to bring awareness to Unshattered, an organization making a transformational impact, and excited to announce that the Possibilities Take Flight collection has landed! Learn more about Unshattered’s mission and check out their beautiful bags today!