Sophie with Her Custom Handbags

New York City is many things to people. It can be the ultimate place to visit, a career-enhancing place to live and a rite of passage. But mostly “The Big Apple” is a state of mind.

New York is an idealized version of what the pinnacle of an American urbane lifestyle can be but is rarely achieved. The city, instead, reveals this image in moments. Staring up at the skyline around sunset, or taking in a rooftop view. Attending a cocktail or dinner party where you can literally be between a Noble Prize winning economist and a world-renowned supermodel. It was at one such event where John F. Kennedy first met Marilyn Monroe.

However, for many who live and work in this great metropolis, it is a difficult and expensive place with exceptional moments of human interaction.

Sophie flew first class on Emirates and arrives at JFK Airport, the entryway for world travelers, in her custom black tote, wallet and shopper with the proper ICAO code: KJFK, hand stitched inside along with Sophie’s secret four-digit number (I’ll never tell). This combination of letters and numbers equals eight, which in itself is a lucky number. Karen Olivo, founder of LUC8K custom leather bags, believes wholeheartedly in the magic behind this mix of colors and numbers and so does Sophie. That’s why LUC8K allows you to design your own handbag online.

She soon learns about the difficulties of New York. Leaving Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of the world’s best and most efficient, and arriving at JFK is about as different an experience as one can imagine. Sophie had to keep her head down so not to bump it into the low ceiling in the aging customs area. Finally, she emerges and chooses, as she often does, public transportation, which she quickly learns is a far different experience than in most of the industrialized world. First, taking the no-frills AirTrain followed by a depressing 45-minute ride on the E subway train, finally making it into Manhattan and her midtown hotel.

But the city is easy for walking, especially when you have the stride of Sophie. She headed directly to the garment district. Isn’t that Vera Wang walking down the street with Diane von Fürstenberg? It certainly is. Fashion bloggers are everywhere as the city begins preparations for New York Fashion Week. Leandro Medine and Kelly Frame are having coffee. Model Natalie Suarez is in the neighborhood on a fashion shoot for her blog. Aleali May, Kyrzayda Rodriguez and Charlotte Groeneveld are taking selfies, barely noticing each other.

Unfortunately while fashion is fun it is also one of the world’s most wasteful industries. That’s why Sophie, as LUC8K’s brand ambassador, focuses on the sustainable practices used in the making of her custom leather LUC8K bags.

New York, even on the rare times it is slow, produces a monumental mountain of waste each day. It has to go somewhere. For now it’s the barren areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey that take in the trash for a hefty fee. Big city residents and people everywhere can do two simple things to lighten the impact of waste: Buy fewer things and buy fewer products that require packaging.

For example, Sophie carries the food she buys in her LUC8K Tote. It’s just one simple thing she does to lead a more responsible and sustainable lifestyle.