I’ve never really been into super super girly things, so when I found out about Gunas at Vida Vegan Con III, I wasn’t immediately intrigued. However, flyer from my swag bag in hand, I checked out their website. While there are many traditional designer kinda handbags, I was happy to see there were some handbags and backpacks even I would wear!

I contacted Gunas about international shipping, as they do ship all over the world. While I bought the bag myself (and paid the €14 VAT tax when it arrived – now I know about that tax oops!), they were nice enough to give me a little discount to offset the cost of getting it to Germany, so I could share my experience here. So, I can already say with arranging everything and communication their customer service is a win!

I chose the Cougar Backpack in brown as it seemed like it would match most of what I own and was practical, plus it would fit my laptop. It arrived safely to Berlin allll the way from the US and I’ve spent the last few weeks testing it out.

It’s perfect timing, as I feel like I’d begun to age out of my schoolbag-esque backpack and now that I’m about to start a regular full-time job I wanted something a bit nicer without being too fancy or standout-ish.

I mostly use it as an overnight bag so far, and it’s worked perfectly for that. I can fit my laptop for work the next day, a change of clothes, charger, and lunch for work, glasses, etc. It’s also not too big, which I appreciate even more. A nice happy medium. My only complaint is that I wish there was a laptop sleeve/a place to separate my laptop should anything leak (I do wrap my lunch in a plastic bag but am always paranoid!

Gunas Cougar Backpack in Brown from the front ($85, also comes in tangerine, pearl and pebble colors)

Back view

Inside, I put my lipbalm and keys in there

Me wearing the brown Gunas Cougar to go with an appearance from my wifi router!

Pros

• vegan
• nice but not too much looks wise
• perfect size, not too big (still fits Macbook), not too small
• could use it reasonably as a purse or a backpack
• backpack straps make it comfortable to carry around all day, not just weighing down one shoulder
• several different color options

Cons

• more about the Gunas website, but there of no pictures of the inside of bags so you can’t see if the bags have compartments inside
• international shipping, but I guess this is my fault for living in Germany ;-). I hope they’ll sell at retail locations abroad eventually!

Other Not Super Girly Gunas Finds

If you’re like me and also don’t want a frilly girls bag, but also don’t feel like spending half your life shopping around to find the right vegan bag…I gotcha! I did an intensive browsing of Gunas bags and came up with these options, have a look!

Cougar in Pearl ($135, link)

I know I already talked about the Cougar, but I really like this color too!

Perch Backpack in Red ($159, link)

There’s a lot of other colors of this backpack, but I find the red and gray versions super cute!

Perch Backpack in Gray ($145, link)

Ridley Black-Crossbody ($135, link)

Super simple, pretty much matches everything.

Love Pouch No. 4 ($29, link)

Okay maybe it’s a little girly, but I find this super cute!

Also this one!

Emily #2 Tribal ($99, link)

Simple, but cute and includes a detachable shoulder strap which makes it quite practical!

Tulip in Black Smoke ($125, link)

Henry in Brown ($350, link)

Okay, so it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a bit bigger than the others and designed to be a laptop bag/briefcase. I think this would be great for work, as it has a separate padded pocket for your laptop. It also comes with a shoulder strap and is supposed to be very lightweight. Splurge for the holidays maybe?

There you have it, my first time delving into vegan fashion on this blog! What did you think, should I do more posts like this? I’m certainly not a fashionista, buying clothes for work actually had me almost in a panic over this last week to prove my point, haha. However, browsing the Gunas website and considering vegan fashion a bit more was definitely an informative experience, so maybe it’s helpful for my other non-fashion experts who also dread shopping sometimes. I’m curious what else is out there now!

Anyway I will for sure keep an eye on Gunas as new products come out. There are tons more bags on their website I didn’t even touch upon, as I was trying to stick to the simple, non-girly theme, so have  a browse! I’d probably wait for my next order until I’m visiting the US though. However, their international shipping is super great if you don’t already live in a crazy vegan city like Berlin and don’t have the chance to find vegan bags in real life.

What’s your take on vegan fashion? Does your veganism extend to your clothes and bags as well? What are your favorite companies and finds? Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer: While I purchased this bag myself, Gunas gave me a slight discount to offset the cost of the international shipping. All opinions are my own and I contacted them after finding out about them at Vida Vegan Con and browsing their website to find my favorite bag. This post contains some affiliate links, any earnings go to help keep this blog running and fund more vegan travels so I can document them for you here. If that irks you, just head to gunasthebrand.com directly and search for the bag you like that way!