Santos by Monica

Santos by Mónica was founded by Mónica Santos Gil, a Puerto Rican designer who fuses different disciplines and philosophies such as fashion, design and sustainability. Santos by Mónica was born as a passion project, a slow fashion brand that focuses on timelessness, quality and sustainability. Monica currently works from her two studios between Puerto Rico and New York City, where she produces bags crafted from vegetable leather made from cactus fibers grown in Mexico.

This material has the same properties of traditional leather, but it is much more eco-friendly and helps to reduce water consumption in the fashion industry by 20%. The brand’s vision is to produce at a slower pace and process and to challenge the current state of the fashion industry and its traditions, while at the same time returning to nature all those resources that were used to make our products. For each handbag that is created, Santos by Mónica plants a tree.