Ayla Leather Jacket

Founded in Calgary in 2012 by Aleem Arif, Bano eeMee is a Canadian leather jacket brand with a purpose built into the product. Manufacturing is based in Pakistan, where the brand has set up fair-work opportunities in disadvantaged communities — each jacket sold translates into two days of fairly paid work for three artisans. That's the kind of supply chain story worth knowing.

The jackets are made from 100% vegetable-tanned supple lamb leather, a by-product of the food industry, with burnishing done by hand to bring out the natural grain. The result is something that gets better with wear rather than worse. These are investment pieces in the truest sense — designed to last years, not seasons.