Second-generation leathersmith Alex Dabagh turns trash into tote bags

ByEduardo Sanchez and Dana Langer Localish logo
Friday, June 24, 2022
These $133 tote bags are made entirely from trash
Brooklyn-native, Alex Dabagh, creates designer tote bags made out of plastic trash at Park Avenue International in Manhattan.

NEW YORK -- In the heart of New York City, there's an artisan on a mission to reimagine waste. Meet Alex Dabagh, a second-generation leathersmith and founder of ANYBAG, a sustainable fashion brand keeping single-use plastic bags out of waterways and landfills.

To create the tote bags ANYBAG is known for, Dabagh and his team handcraft a one-of-a-kind textile made by heat sealing pieces of plastic together into a yarn and then weaving it on a loom.

"Each classic ANYBAG uses about two pounds of plastic which is equivalent to 95 single plastic bags," says Dabagh. "What I like to say about the ANYBAG is that it's just like us New Yorkers. We are all cut from a different cloth. No two are ever alike. That's the uniqueness."