December 8th, 2025
Every brand begins with a problem. Elvis & Kresse began with a pile of fire-hoses.
In 2005, a chance encounter with the London Fire Brigade exposed a quiet tragedy of the everyday: hoses that had fought to save lives were being discarded once damaged, their stories ending in the ground. For most people, this would have been an interesting fact, but for Elvis & Kresse, it became a calling.
They didn’t set out to define a new kind of luxury. They simply refused to accept that something so strong, so full of history, belonged in the waste stream. That small moment of defiance sparked the rescue of more than 300 tonnes of material and rewrote the future of the brand.
Today, no London fire-hose goes to landfill and that is only the beginning.
A different definition of “the best”
Elvis & Kresse speak often about making “the best bags in the world, because [they are] the best bags for the world.” It’s a subtle difference, but it tells you everything.
Their bags, belts, notebooks and weekend pieces aren’t remarkable because they are flawless, they are remarkable because they carry purpose. Every accessory begins with a material that society has written off and ends with a product that gives back (literally).
It also helps that 50% of their profits are donated to charity. Always.
It’s a model that doesn’t leave room for shortcuts. Reclaim the material. Restore it. Handcraft something that will last. Then return half of what you make to the people who need it most.
Luxury, as they see it, isn’t about owning more, it’s about caring more.
The world behind the materials
Fire-hoses aren’t the only story. The brand’s ambition has always been wider than one waste stream.
In 2017, the Burberry Foundation approached Elvis & Kresse with a challenge far larger in scale: leather. Mountains of off-cuts. Pallets of unused fragments. A global problem with no elegant solution.
Together, they created one.
Through a five-year partnership, at least 120 tonnes of rescued leather off-cuts were reimagined as new accessories, proof that modern luxury can be open, generous, reclaimed, and kind.
The company doesn’t stop at materials. Their rescue philosophy runs through everything: renewable energy, apprenticeships, work experience and packaging made from waste. Even the coffee they serve in their workshop carries a tale of restoration, grown by scholars supported through their charitable donations, roasted locally and poured for anyone who walks in.
Giving, but giving with intention
The Fire Fighters Charity was a natural partner for the fire-hose work. Leather, however, demanded a deeper search, a partner who could address climate change, multiply impact and run with the kind of integrity the founders value.
They found that in Barefoot College International.
What began as a desire to match reclaimed leather with a purpose became a movement: empowering women in rural communities to become solar engineers, helping villages switch to clean energy and in one case, sparking the creation of an organic coffee collective in Guatemala.
Elvis & Kresse has donated £102,000 to Barefoot College so far, and each pound carries a ripple effect. Solar panels installed where there were none, livelihoods transformed, communities strengthened.
And some of that impact comes back in unexpected ways, like the coffee that makes its way into their workshop, grown by the very people their donations helped empower.
A business built with both hands open
Being a Certified B Corp, a Social Enterprise, and a Living Wage Employer isn’t a badge collection for Elvis & Kresse. It’s a reflection of how they see their responsibility to their workers, their community, their supply chain and the systems they hope to mend.
Even their tax payments are approached with a kind of grounded gratitude. They talk about it plainly: paying tax means teachers, healthcare and infrastructure. It means society is working as it should.
It’s rare to hear a business speak with such clarity about contribution. Rarer still to see it in practice, year after year.
Where the story goes next
Today, Elvis & Kresse pieces are cherished as gifts, made from materials with stories, shaped by hands with skill and bought by people who want to carry something meaningful.
But the brand’s real legacy isn’t the product. It’s the mindset: that waste can be rescued, that generosity can be built into the business model, and that luxury can be recast as a force for good.
Their journey began with a fire hose. It has become a blueprint for how brands can act when they see waste not as a burden, but as a beginning.
And in a world hungry for courage and care, that small act of rescue in 2005 still echoes, quiet, steady, transformative in its own way.
Created by Jessica Marwood.
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image, however if you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at rb@hatchedlondon.com.
