Tanner Leatherstein's Viral Mission to Save You From Bad Luxury Bags

So far, helium hasn’t heard straight from immoderate large brands, positively oregon negatively. “Early on, 11 of my videos were flagged by the LVMH Group for allegedly promoting counterfeit products, which wasn’t the case,” helium says. His relationship was concisely suspended, but aft posting a video explaining the misunderstanding, Instagram reinstated it. He does, however, person plentifulness of affirmative feedback from smaller brands, who convey him for recognizing their craftsmanship and for challenging the luxury sector’s power implicit consumers.

Beyond conscionable recommendations, Yilmaz has besides go an educator, teaching his followers however to admit prime leather goods. “Look for natural, unaltered leather,” helium says, advising buyers to ticker for unsocial atom patterns, coagulated stitching, and durable hardware. He besides warns against vague labels: “If it conscionable says ‘genuine leather,’ that’s usually a motion the marque has small to boast astir successful presumption of worldly quality.”

Given his background, it’s not astonishing that Yilmaz is passionate astir the subject. Raised successful a household of leather workers successful Turkey, helium learned the commercialized from a young age, adjacent crafting his archetypal leather overgarment astatine property 11. His brand, Pegai, which began connected Etsy 8 years ago, reflects his committedness to quality, featuring high-end leather and hardware sourced from Spanish artisans—what helium calls “accessible luxury.”

While Yilmaz’s emergence to fame mightiness look advantageous for Pegai, helium seldom uses his transmission to beforehand his ain brand. “I seldom notation my marque successful reviews, truthful immoderate viewers don’t recognize I person one,” helium says. “Occasionally, if I’m sharing an update oregon related story, I’ll notation Pegai, which boosts nonstop sales. But otherwise, spot builds implicit clip arsenic viewers admit my contented and yet question retired my brand.”

He has poured countless hours and resources into gathering his reputation, adjacent erstwhile hiring an researcher successful Singapore to verify a brand’s assertion that its bags were locally produced. “That’s however acold I’m consenting to spell to get to the truth,” helium says.

His passionateness for leather extends beyond extremity products to the morals and sustainability of the manufacture itself. While leather has travel nether scrutiny for its biology impact, Yilmaz sees it arsenic a invaluable byproduct of the nutrient industry, preventing hides from becoming waste. He argues that genuine leather’s durability makes it a amended prime than plastics, which are often marketed arsenic “vegan leather.”

“There’s thing vegan oregon leather astir that integrative labeling,” helium says, criticizing the inclination arsenic misleading. Still, helium acknowledges the efforts of immoderate brands to make existent vegan alternatives from earthy fibers specified arsenic mushroom oregon cactus, though helium believes they person yet to conscionable the durability and prime of existent leather.

Through his content, Yilmaz is helping signifier a caller question of informed consumers who are little funny successful presumption symbols and much focused connected the values down their purchases. With his genuine curiosity and willingness to walk his ain wealth connected the research, Yilmaz has managed to disrupt an manufacture that erstwhile felt untouchable.

And though helium whitethorn person started by simply asking wherefore a Louis Vuitton container costs truthful much, his travel has led him to question the full luxury ecosystem. In a satellite obsessed with marque names, his message, preaching to millions of Gen Zers via vertical video, is refreshingly wide and (whisper it) decidedly old-school: True luxury isn’t astir the logo—it’s astir the artistry, materials, and values down the brand.