STORY
HOZEN is a vegan accessory brand committed to respecting and protecting Mother Earth and all who call her home. We were founded in 2018 with a simple mission: to bring form, function, and fairness to the accessories space. Since then, we’ve been busy learning, growing and playing in an effort to explore all the ways fashion and compassion can coexist in harmony.
We run small batch production from a fair wage factory in Los Angeles, and our materials are sourced from companies with high standards of ethics, responsibility, and governance. We use only eco-friendly, plant-based and recycled materials (in our bags and packaging). — To celebrate our makers, each piece comes with a card featuring the smiling face of the artisan who crafted it.
In the words of sustainability advocate Anna Lappé, “every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” We couldn’t agree more, and we practice what we preach by designing pieces that pay it forward in more ways than one. Merging consumerism with good conscience is just one of the ways we can do our part to protect the planet— and supporting brands like ours is just one of the ways you can do yours.
FOUNDER
Rae Nicoletti is a designer who has committed to bringing compassion to the accessories space through the use of animal-free, cruelty- free, and ethical materials and production. She began her career at Kate Spade in New York, and later at Restoration Hardware in San Francisco. But it wasn’t until enrolling at the Amblard Leather Atelier, a school run by Hermès master artisan Bea Amblard, that she discovered a passion: accessories design.
As a vegan, working with leather—an industry rife with animal cruelty, pollution, and toxic chemicals—went against everything she believed in. Knowing she could never use the material in good conscience, she graduated Amblard’s program determined to make her mark in the vegan accessories space. Opposed to all forms of cruelty, including labor and economic injustice, Rae spent the next few years scouring the globe for alternative materials and educating herself on ethical production practices. As the female founder of a mission-based brand, Rae respects and supports businesses and individuals who stand up against the injustices they see in the world.
Rae’s work has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, the Los Angeles Times, Goop, and Cosmopolitan.
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