Celebrating cultures around the world!

Since 2010, our mission has been to celebrate culture by creating high quality laptop and travel bags that feature ethically sourced traditional handmade textiles. Your purchase sustains the collaboration of hand printing, weaving and embroidery with our partnering artisan villages in Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Ethnotek is so much more than just a bag, it's a global movement! Come join our community and help us back artisan-entrepreneurs by supporting their craft and telling their stories!

Ethno - tek

Ethnotek is the fusion of two entities: Ethnology and Technology.

[Ethno]

Ethnology - a branch of anthropology that analyzes cultures, especially concerning their historical development and the similarities and dissimilarities.

[Tek]

Technology - the study and transformation of techniques, tools, and machines created by humans. Technology allows humans to evolve the physical elements that are present in their lives.

Threads™:

Most Ethnotek bags can be customized via the removable front panel called a Thread™. Each Thread™ is created from handmade textiles that are sourced in person and purchased directly from the artisan or craft village in which they were created. We are continually scouring the globe to find textiles that embody the vibrancy and beauty of the people who create them and the traditions they represent. We release new Threads™ regularly, allowing you to update the look of your bag without having to buy a new one entirely. This puts a whole new meaning to changing your threads!

Elevating Origins

It is far too often that traditional textile motifs are copied and reprinted in the sports and fashion industries without gaining permission from the original creators or involving them financially. We firmly stand against this cultural misappropriation! We are in the busines of elevating the artisan-entrpreneurs who authentically create these traditional textiles and promoting their cultural roots. This core value and the textiles themselves are what give our bags a soul, a meaning, a purpose, a story. Combined with our extremely high standards for quality, functionality, simplicity and beauty, we’re proud to be a market leader in the ethical bag space. Even if you don’t buy a bag from us, we encourage you to do your homework when searching for other brands to make sure there are ethical and environmental benefits built-in. As conscious consumers, we owe that to our beautiful planet and the incredible humans that inhabit it.

Embracing Diversity

The last and most important part of our mission is to spread the idea that we should celebrate each other's differences more often. The only way culture can continue to enrich our world is by breaking down societal divisions and marketplace homogeneity.

Culture runs deep, from the tribes of Yunnan Province to the Subways of New York City, from the Ghats of Varanasi to the Cafes of Paris. To ensure these incredibly interesting differences thrive, we must learn about them and retell their story. With this in mind, we view our bags as a flag, a flag that you proudly wave, which says, "I care.”

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not. - Ralph Waldo Emerson.