THE VAYA BAGS STORY
   Vaya Bags was founded in 2005 by Tianna Meilinger.  Tianna Graduated from Boston University with a BA in Environmental Science. That year she made her first messenger bag out of the necessity for a sturdy, waterproof bag. And so, Vaya Bags was born. Tianna grew up in Huntington Station and started sewing at the age of 13, working for her Dad who was a leather craftsman. He made his living hand-making and designing unique clothing out of scrap leather that he got from a leather factory dumpster.  Her Dad would then sell his works at fine art and craft shows around the country.  Inspired by her background in environmental science and her Dad’s ability to create works of art out of someone else’s trash, Tianna started searching for and using scrap and recycled material to incorporate into her bags. Some of these unique materials include recycled bicycle tubes discarded from local bike shops, scrap sailboat awnings and old banners. 
In 2010, Tianna opened up the Vaya Bags store in Ridgewood, Queens. As well as being a retail store, all of the Vaya Bags products were made right there in the store. Currently Vaya Bags are still individually hand made in the store in Ridgewood, Queens as well as by Tianna in her workshop in Huntington Station, NY.
 

MATERIALS
The canvas we use is scrap and new Sunbrella® Fabric from local sailboat factories. Sunbrella® is a waterproof marine canvas that is typically used for boat awnings and covers. Due to the highly resistant acrylic yarns, Sunbrella® will withstand many years of harsh climates such as heavy rains and the hot sun. The 100% solution dyed acrylics prove Sunbrella® to be fade resistant as well as resistant to multiple stains. A few of our bags also use Cordura canvas as well. 
In order to ensure that our bags are waterproof we line all of the bags with an 18 oz vinyl coated polyester, which is a highly durable, weather proof material used for truck tarps.
Since Vaya Bags loves to recycle as much as we can we also use recycled bicycle tubes, donated to us from local bike shops as well as old banners donated from local companies. 
Our logos are hand screen-printed with eco-friendly inks curtesy of Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations.
Each bag is individually hand made with love and care. Please contact us with any questions you may have. We're always happy to help.
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