‘Encourages me to use the leather I buy’: Humans of Bombay CEO Karishma Mehta sells Prada, Louis Vuitton, YSL and Gucci bags and shoes

Humans of Bombay (HoB) founder and CEO Karishma Mehta on Wednesday announced that she will be selling her luxury bags and shoes soon. Mehta said that while growing up, women used to look at magazines that contained beautiful pictures of ideal women.

The entrepreneur also shared photos of her bags and shoes from Prada, Louis Vuitton, YSL, Gucci and Fendi on Instagram. “As we grow older, we start circling our ‘dream bag’ and ‘dream shoes’ and dream of walking into the closet like in the princess diaries,” she said in her post.

She wrote that she decided to sell her luxury leather goods because she will adopt cruelty-free fashion in 2025.

“As a vegetarian, I will not eat meat because it is not appropriate for me to eat a living being. How can it be appropriate for me to participate in a market that prides itself on being ‘luxury’ by charging for it? Right?

She added that she decided to avoid buying leather of any kind. “Since I have come to the decision to not only stop purchasing leather of any kind, but it is braver for me to use leather that I may have already purchased.”

Mehta also said that proceeds from the sales will go towards NGOs working in the field of animal welfare.

“I hope this small action will open your eyes to it – the dream still goes on, think about conquering your biggest dream – relentlessly, mysteriously. But do it with your heart, do it gently. Here’s to a kinder, skin-free 2025 for life (sic), she said at the end of the post.

Mehta’s announcement of going without leather in 2025 was well received by netizens. One user wrote: “Awesome! I’m so glad you’re doing this (sic).” “It’s well said and very true, we skinned animals for these luxury bags,” another user said.

“Very few people actually realize this, and even fewer turn it into action. Unfortunately, animals are exploited not only in a diet that includes meat, dairy and seafood, but also in fashion and makeup (animal testing and use of animal ingredients). Nice to know Seeing you take this step I hope it inspires us all to be more conscious of what we consume, not just as food but everything that is part of our lifestyle (sic),” a third user wrote.