With Green Vegan Bags, Nicole Areu is building more than a shop — she’s creating a destination where conscious fashion feels effortless, elevated, and confidently modern. By curating vegan handbags and accessories that lead with design, quality, and function, she removes the friction from ethical shopping and reframes cruelty‑free as a natural evolution of great style. Rooted in her advocacy for animals and driven by today’s more discerning consumer, this next chapter is about intentional growth, everyday essentials, and proving that choosing better never means settling for less.
Hi Nicole, thank you so much for joining us again! How has Green Vegan Bags evolved over the past year from being a shop into a true destination for conscious, cruelty-free style, and what does that next chapter look like to you?
Over the past year, I’ve been very intentional about making Green Vegan Bags feel like a destination, somewhere you land and don’t have to overthink your choices. Instead of scrolling through dozens of stores, hoping you like something and then wondering what’s actually ethical or well-made, at Green Vegan Bags everything already meets that standard.
That next chapter is about building on that idea even more — expanding in a thoughtful way with new products and continuing to make cruelty-free, nontoxic shopping feel easy, elevated, and exciting instead of overwhelming.
You’ve worked intentionally to make ethical fashion feel luxurious rather than limiting. How do you curate handbags and accessories that stand on their own in quality and design while staying true to vegan and sustainable values?
I’m really selective in the same way that I am when I shop for myself. If it doesn’t feel beautiful, functional, and well-made, it’s a no – even if it checks all the other boxes. Sustainability matters highly to me, but style has to come first or it just doesn’t work.
I look for vegan handbags and other products that really do it all well – high-quality vegan leather, sustainable materials, and designs that feel current and timeless. I want people to be amazed when they open their packages. I think of Green Vegan Bags like a great vegan restaurant but for handbags: design and quality come first, and the fact that everything is vegan is a part of the experience, not a limitation. Every bag, wallet and belt stand on their own, they don’t feel like just a “vegan option”.
Many people still associate vegan fashion with compromise. What do you say to shoppers who want style first, but are curious about making more ethical choices?
I think people associate vegan fashion with compromise because, for a long time, the readily available options really were frustrating. There are so many bags out there, yet so few that are actually beautiful, well-made, sustainable and from brands you feel good supporting.
I started Green Vegan Bags because I was tired of that experience — jumping from shop to shop, hoping to find something that wasn’t cheap, plastic-y, or questionable. Amazing vegan handbags do exist, and finding them shouldn’t feel like a full-time job.
At its core, Green Vegan Bags is about changing that narrative. I want people to feel excited about animal-free fashion and confident that choosing cruelty-free doesn’t mean settling — it means stepping into something better.
Your passion for animal rescue clearly runs deep. How has being an advocate for animals — and sharing your life with rescue animals — shaped the mission, storytelling, and decisions behind Green Vegan Bags?
Animal rescue has shaped how I interact the world, but it’s not really about rescue stories — it’s about perspective. When you really experience the individuality of animals, it becomes very clear that they aren’t resources or materials. They’re not here for us to use as we please. They are individuals with personalities.
That belief guides Green Vegan Bags. I want to create something that feels strong, modern, and forward-moving. It is a clear example that style can evolve past old systems without losing its edge.
Green Vegan Bags exists to show that choosing leather-free isn’t about giving something up. It’s about choosing differently — and choosing better — in a way that feels natural, empowering, and unmistakably current.
What excites you most about today’s conscious consumer, and how do you see their values influencing the future of fashion?
What excites me most is that conscious consumers today aren’t willing to settle. They want style, quality, and values — all at once. They ask better questions and dig a little deeper..
Because of that, the businesses are being called to do better. I think we’re moving toward a future where cruelty-free and sustainable fashion isn’t an “alternative”, it’s just what modern style looks like.
For someone discovering Green Vegan Bags for the first time, what do you hope they feel — emotionally and stylistically — when they carry one of your pieces?
I hope they feel confident and aligned. Like, this feels like me.
Stylistically, I want the bag to feel effortless yet exciting, something they reach for every day. Emotionally, I want them to feel relief. Relief that they don’t have to choose between looking good and doing good, and that they’ve found their shop for that.
Looking ahead, what’s next for the brand as you continue expanding the collection and redefining what modern, cruelty-free fashion can look like?
Looking ahead, I’m focused on growing in a really intentional way, and more everyday items people struggle to find.
My goal is to keep redefining what cruelty-free can look like: elevated, modern, and accessible, without ever losing sight of the mission. I want Green Vegan Bags to continue being a place people come back to because it feels easy and great to shop here.
