Rachel Santos, a Santa Clara County Open Space Authority planner and the owner of Dante Robles Handbags, has been invited to the 7th annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards for her “high fashion” handbag designs produced from “upcycled” materials she gathered from a prominent Morgan Hill bicycle company.
Santos uses roadbike and mountain bike inner-tubes sourced from Specialized Bicycle Components to produce her designs, according to Specialized’s Facebook page. She transforms the used, discarded rubber inner-tubes, formerly destined for landfills, into artfully woven textiles that she uses in her handbag designs.
Santos’ work in open space preservation, which includes recent work in preserving the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve in north Morgan Hill, has inspired her approach to green designs, she said.
Her relationship with Specialized, where she acquires the materials for her handbags, blossomed from her work with the OSA.
She has been producing handbags since 2012, but Santos noted she has been designing and constructing items such as woodwork and garments for “many years.”
“I enjoy the fact that what I design now has a connection my open space preservation work,” Santos said.
Specialized recently featured Santos and her company, Dante Robles Handbags, on the “Specialized Women” Facebook page.
Specialized Global Advocacy Manager Simon Dunne said company staff met Santos at a meeting that Specialized requested with the City of Morgan Hill to talk about improving mountain bike access in the area.
“Rachel told us about her side project – high fashion handmade bags using bicycle tubes,” Dunne said. “As a bicycle manufacturer, we always have huge numbers of used bike tubes at our headquarters and have always looked for great ways to repurpose them. Working with Rachel has been a win-win.”
Santos picks up boxes of tubes from Specialized headquarters “every couple of months,” Dunne explained.
The Independent Handbag Designer Awards are sponsored by InStyle Magazine. Santos plans to attend the awards ceremony in New York June 19.
Fans of Santos’ handbags can also vote in the awards’ “Fan Favorites” category by clicking here.
