How two sisters turned playing shops into EAU BAGS
But looking back now, maybe EAU BAGS was always going to happen.
We’re sisters, Olivia and Claudine. We grew up in Brisbane with a French papa and an Australian mum who both built their own businesses from the ground up. We watched them create something of their own and, naturally, wanted to do the same.
Growing up we would play shops every weekend.
We’d set up out the front of our house selling old newspapers, books, trinkets and whatever else we could get our hands on. We loved everything about it - setting up our little store, deciding what things were worth and, most importantly, convincing someone (mostly our neighbours) to actually buy them.
Eventually, we grew up. The shop came down. We went off and built our own careers and lives.
But that childhood dream of creating something together never really left us.
Only this time, we wanted to create something of our own, together - a brand and products we actually wanted to use and love. Something that felt like us: a little French chic, with the laid-back ease of growing up in Australia.
But it also had to make sense - made thoughtfully, practical enough for real life and, most importantly, something you’d genuinely want to reach for every day.
EAU - pronounced “oh” - means “water” in French.
We started EAU BAGS in 2022 around our full-time jobs, learning as we went, working after hours and obsessing over every detail.
And so, our grown-up version of playing shops began.
Today, EAU BAGS is globally recognised as *the* recycled nylon bag brand - known for our signature stripes and the ever-growing range of styles we’ve created around them.
Our signature striped fabric starts with nylon waste, including discarded fishing nets, old carpets and factory off-cuts. It’s collected, cleaned, melted down and spun into recycled yarn, before being dyed and woven into the thick, durable fabric that has become synonymous with EAU BAGS.
But what EAU BAGS are made from is only part of the story. How they’re made - and who makes them - matters just as much to us.
Every EAU BAGS style is slow-made and handcrafted in India, in our dedicated studio that exists exclusively to make EAU BAGS. We’re incredibly close with our team there and travel to India at least twice a year to spend time together, develop new styles, work through samples and stay close to every part of the process.
As we grow, that closeness - to our team, our process and the way EAU BAGS are made - is something we never want to lose.
Today, the EAU BAGS range is bigger than we ever imagined - from everyday totes and handbags to travel bags, tiny bags and everything in between.
But our favourite thing is hearing that they’ve become the bags you actually use. We’ve had customers tell us their designer bags are gathering dust because they reach for EAU BAGS instead - and honestly, that might just be the greatest compliment we could receive.
They’re thrown over shoulders, stuffed under prams, taken to work, packed for holidays and carried around the world.
The cost per wear? Practically in the negatives.
And even now, seeing EAU BAGS out in the wild - at an airport, on the beach, walking down the street or on the other side of the world - still stops us.
It’s a surreal reminder that the little shop we used to pretend to run together somehow became real.
We’re still learning. Still obsessing over stripes. Still dreaming up what comes next, together.
In a funny way, we’re still playing shops.
The shop is just a little bigger now.
And if the two little girls sitting on that front lawn could see it, we think they’d be pretty proud.
Thank you for being part of it — and for carrying EAU BAGS with us.
Bisous,
Olivia & Claudine xx
