High fashion: designer handbags that mask the smell of marijuana
Fed up of digging around for their plastic-wrapped drug of choice and rolling papers, two women designed odour-blocking bags and clutches with pockets for pipes and other paraphernalia
The idea came to the two friends because “we are fashionable women of means” who cared that all the stuff in their lives - the shoes, handbags, clothes, sunglasses - properly reflected who they are.
Their accessories spoke of their professional success and their grown-up sophistication. And it had become incredibly aggravating to have to pull out little plastic bags and dig around for a crumpled package of rolling paper every time they wanted to smoke a joint. There had to be a better way.
And so Jeanine Moss and Ann Shuch created what one might call hash handbags.
At a time when medical marijuana has gained acceptances in the majority of the United States and recreational use is legal in four states, it was only a matter of time before pricey, fashion-oriented accessories followed. These handbags and clutches – under the AnnaBis brand name – have a dedicated place for everything, from pipes to eye drops and breath mints. The bags are lined with an odour-blocking resin used in food preparation and medical technology - to keep a lid on marijuana’s telltale aroma.
But if one Googles “marijuana” and “handbag” the results are mostly inexpensive satchels emblazoned with cannabis leaves or old news stories about Hermes bags that reportedly smelled like pot due to a batch of bad leather. AnnaBis bags fall into the price range of accessible luxury. They are accessories aimed at pot-smoking customers who might normally purchase handbags from Tory Burch, Michael Kors or Coach. An AnnaBis bucket bag, for example, costs US$295; a small clutch is U$175.
The way the entrepreneurs see it, the bag is a statement about the acceptability of pot - whether as medicinal or recreational. “It’s the expression of power and success,” Shuch says. The marijuana business is (sort of) legitimate and the AnnaBis bags are about “women feeling validated in their choices. We’re going to validate that choice with beautiful accessories.”
AnnaBis bags have been selling online now for about three weeks. The most enthusiastic responses have been from the US west coast. (Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska.) The company, however, is based in the eastern state of New Jersey, where recreational use is not legal.
“We’re not focused on selling in New Jersey,” Moss says. And they are treading carefully. “The product never touches the plant. We have to be responsible. We don’t break laws.”
As for their own use: “We (smoke) when we can,” Moss says. “We don’t when we can’t.”
The Washington Post