FAQ

That a colour is probably no longer up to par. It's like this: We only work with old material. Some colours (=bags) are suddenly no longer available and unfortunately will probably not be available anymore. Simply because there is no longer a sack in the color to be found.
This has already happened to strawberry red, altrosa, pink-hanco, pink+yellow, purple.

The flags were originally displayed at the Kunstforum Wien or Belvedere. The exhibition they were part of can be found in the description of the respective product from the #FAHNEN-Collection

Our ‘larger’ products (e.g. backpack, Soulmate, Sporty) come with a fish/eagle/bee guarantee. If the product images show one of the motifs listed, then you will also find it on your product, we promise! Normally it is also positioned pretty much exactly in the same place (e.g. centred) as shown, sometimes maybe a few centimetres off. As the bags we use only ever have a motif and the larger lettering on the front, we are unfortunately unable to provide all ‘smaller’ products with the popular motifs. For the smaller products and for the inside of the products, we therefore often use the back of the bags (lots of letters and numbers) and a fish/eagle/bee part is rarely included. However, if you would like to have a fish on your cosmetic bag, for example, please note this in the comments field in the shopping basket and we will fulfil your request if available. If this is not possible, we will contact you with alternatives before shipping.

We reserve the prominent motifs for our ‘larger’ products (e.g. backpack, Soulmate, Sporty). It is important to us to utilize the entire bags and the bags only ever have a fish/eagle/bee/mountain motif on one side.

For products from the #FISH-Collection, #CEMENT-Collection, #TWEED-Collection oder Shoe-Collection Collection, we search the local market in Cambodia for interesting, patterned fabric remnants to use as outer fabric or inner lining. These remnants are often the last textile rolls from a larger textile production and are only sufficient for small editions. If there is still some fabric left over after the first REFISHED edition, there is sometimes a second or third edition. We always number the limited editions on or in the product.

As we only have limited materials for the upcycling process, we cannot guarantee that the lining will be the same for every production - this is what makes the bags unique! However, if you have a preference, please let us know when you place your order and we will do our best to fulfil your request.

From time to time it can happen that the pattern of your product differs, as we work with limited materials and use every cut-out of the bags. It can also happen that the colour of the belt differs and is lighter or darker, as we also buy deadstock here. Those products on which one of the main motifs (fish/eagle/bee/mountain) is shown will always have the promised main motif, these are shifted by a few centimetres at most.

You can find our store in Vienna at Sechsschimmelgasse 20, 1090. Other retailers who sell our products are listed here. HERE

The basic concept of all products within a category is the same. However, the cut-outs of the fish food bag that is upcycled for the product may vary. This makes them unique!

• #FISH-Collection collection made from fish food bags, made in Cambodia
• #CEMENT-Collection collection made from cement bags, made in Cambodia
• #TWEED-Collection collection made of tweed with #CEMENT oder #FISH lining, made in Cambodia
• #SHOE-Collection espadrilles made from high-quality cotton remnants and natural rubber soles, made in Cambodia
• #FLAGS-Collection made of flags from the Kunstforum Wien, made in Vienna

Our #TWEED-bags are particularly popular in the colder months as their outside is made from elegant, cosy tweed fabrics inspired by the world-famous Chanel jacket. We select the fabrics at the local market in Cambodia, where you can often buy the last few metres of a roll of fabric. The inside of the luxurious tweed bags is complemented by the popular upcycled fish lining and cement sack material. The bags from the Upcycling Tweed collection combine elegance and sustainability. Our tweed limited editions are usually available in 3-4 colours, with new but timeless colours usually being added in autumn!

It is the perfect collection for art lovers. The bags consist of advertising flags that have been used to promote the current exhibition at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien Museum or the Belvedere Wien Museum. You can find out which exhibition a flag bag belonged to in the respective product description and sometimes on the inside of the product. The material is soft and lightweight. Get your own artwork HERE

Our Art Edition are REFISHED products that are individually painted by certain artists and are therefore absolutely unique. Our first Art Edition individual pieces are a cooperation with the talented Venezuelan artist Maria Verona (@convchiquita), who lives in Vienna and regularly takes great photos for us. 10% of the sales of the Art Editions go to our charity projects. We regularly support schools in remote areas of Cambodia that are dependent on donations.

Our backpack and messenger bag have spacious inner pockets that fit a laptop of any size. All others also have small inner or outer pockets. You can find photos and information for each product.

The sewn-in laptop compartments in the backpacks and messenger bags are generous, which is why most laptops fit inside. We also have laptop sleeves in sizes 11 to 17 inches.

HERE is our colour palette. Unfortunately, we can never guarantee how long each colour will be available. Sometimes certain bags can no longer be found and we can no longer upcycle them. But every now and then they turn up again!

For our #FISH-Collection , we use fish food bags that are upcycled in Cambodia and would otherwise have been disposed of. In this way, we contribute to waste avoidance. Our #CEMENT-Collection is similar: cement bags are upcycled in a sustainable process. In the #FLAGS-Collection for example, flags from the Kunstforum Museum Wien are turned into sustainable bags. We also process old advertising material such as posters, roll-ups and life jackets for corporate customers. All base materials are ‘sustainable’ in the sense that they would otherwise have burdened our planet in the form of even more waste. For zips, metal parts and other materials, we use dead stock material or textile remnants, giving them a second life.

There is a large market in Phnom Penh, the Orrussey Market, where you can find almost everything from fruit and vegetables to electronic devices. This is also where we buy the used sacks in which fish feed, cement or sugar have been stored. There are traders who collect, sort and sell the used sacks. In Cambodia, you see many people using these simple sacks for their everyday lives, e.g. for transporting laundry or larger items.

Most of our products are vegan. However, our Backpacks und Soulmates have applications on their handles made from real leather remnants from a German cross-country shoe production facility or from a local shoemaker in Phnom Penh. As soon as these leftovers are used up, we would like to switch to artificial leather. If you are unsure whether a product is vegan, please contact us.

During production, we make sure that the product is as durable as possible. As the bags were originally designed for transport, they are a very robust material and can withstand a lot. However, like any other material, this one also wears out over time.

Some Soulmate Bags and the Lady purse have a patterned inner lining made from a water-repellent residual material that we buy at the local market in Cambodia. The fish food and cement bags are of course also waterproof. You can see the available variants in the pictures in the online shop.

These products have a patterned cotton lining on the inside. However, the cotton fabric is not water-repellent. We would therefore recommend the Soulmate Cotton as a shopper for the city rather than as a swim bag. The fish food and cement bags on the outside are, of course, waterproof.

You can see the available versions in the pictures in the online shop. You can search for ‘cotton’ in the search field at the top right.

The main material of all bags from the #CEMENT- and #FISH-Collection (cement bags and fish food bags) is water-repellent and is impregnated before despatch. However, the zips and seams are not waterproof and therefore not suitable as a ‘wet bag’ for river crossings, for example.

All bags are robust and water-repellent, making them perfect for sports. We recommend our Sporty Bag and Yoga Bag to all sporty customers!

Of course, it depends on the model, but we try to sew the handles on every bag or Backpack so tightly that it will hold up even if you fill the bag completely with water bottles, for example. If you have any doubts, please ask us for our experience. If something does break, we offer a local repair service.

When the flap of the Backpack is folded down, it holds about 16 litres; when the flap is up, it holds about 22 litres. The backpack weighs approximately 400 g.

Our Backpack, the Soulmate and the Sporty Small have already proved their worth as hand luggage. However, you have to get them into shape for any checks at the airport. Ryanair's baggage policy states ‘small piece of personal luggage (40 x 20 x 25 cm) that must fit under the seat in front’. Our backpack measures 45 x 30 x 12 cm and if it is not completely stuffed, it will also pass as a small piece of personal luggage with Ryanair (tried and tested several times, but we cannot guarantee this :)

You can easily order in our Online Shop and have various payment options. Alternatively, you can always contact us by email, online chat or by phone during our opening hours.

No, you can also order as a guest. But with an account you can manage your orders more easily and also receive exclusive offers.

We offer the following payment methods in our webshop:

• Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
• PayPal
• Klarna 
• ShopPay
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Instant bank transfer (in certain countries)

Would you like to pay via bank transfer? Simply send us an email with your desired product and your contact details and we will provide you with our bank details for the transfer. As soon as we receive the payment, your order will be shipped to you.

As soon as your order has been placed, we will start processing it. If you wish to make changes or cancel your order, please contact us as soon as possible. If the parcel has already been dispatched, you can return it upon receipt.

We will be happy to send you an invoice on request. Please send us a short email with your name and order number to office@refished.com.

You can find our value vouchers HERE. The recipient can redeem the voucher online or in the REFISHED store in Vienna - without time pressure, because it doesn't expire!

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you will receive a 10% discount on your first order or your first purchase from us as a thank you. You can subscribe to our newsletter HERE. Don't worry, we won't flood your inbox with emails. Once you've signed up, you'll receive another email with a unique discount code that you can redeem online or in the REFISHED store after confirming your registration (look for our registration email in your inbox and click on the confirmation link). We can also register you for the newsletter in the REFISHED store when you pay at the checkout and deduct the discount once.

Unfortunately not at the moment. However, our newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about all discount promotions, limited editions and events.

Our products are designed to be robust. However, as the print can be sensitive, we recommend protecting it and keeping creams and oils away from it. To give the print a longer life, it can be sprayed with hair spray or fixing spray every few months. We also do this before your order is dispatched! If the straps on the backpacks get dirty, you can simply clean them with water and a little washing-up liquid. However, make sure that the printing ink does not come into contact with it. The following applies to all products: Never put them in the washing machine!

Our robust bags are made with love to accompany you through your everyday life. If you follow all the care tips, they will give you pleasure for a long time.

No, there is no guarantee on REFISHED products. However, if you notice a major defect within the first month of use, please contact us and we will certainly find a solution.

We offer on-site repairs within Vienna (duration approx. 2 weeks). Outside Vienna, a repair at our premises would unfortunately not be worthwhile due to the back and forth shipping. Depending on how long you have had the product or what kind of damage is involved, we will be happy to advise you on a solution. Simply contact us by email at office@refished.com.

No, all bags have a neutral odour. They are thoroughly cleaned before the upcycling process.

Yes, you have 2 weeks to cancel your purchase. Just write us a short email to office@refished.com, in which you inform us about your wish, or come to the REFISHEREI in person (Sechsschimmelgasse 20, 1090 Vienna). You can choose whether you want the money back or a different product or a voucher.

If you want to return a product, please inform us of your wish within the two-week cancellation period by sending an email to office@refished.com.
Enclose a note with your name and order number in the parcel and address it to: REFISHED, Sechsschimmelgasse 20/5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

You are responsible for the costs and responsibility for the return shipment. We therefore recommend insured shipping with tracking. As soon as we receive the product in full, we will initiate the return transfer process and you will receive a confirmation email. Please note that the automated payment process can take up to two weeks, depending on the payment method selected, and we have no influence on the duration.

Once we have received the product and everything is in order with it, we will initiate the refund process and you will receive a confirmation email. Please note that the automated payment process can take up to two weeks depending on the payment method chosen and we have no influence on the duration.

Yes, you are responsible for the return shipping costs.

Unfortunately, it can sometimes happen that color peels off, since the sacks are already printed and used before we make our products out of them and you never know what conditions they have been exposed to. Also, we have no influence on the durability or other properties of the printing. In general, we recommend being careful with oils, creams, disinfectants and other harsh agents, the imprint doesn't like all that very much.
If you decide that this is not acceptable for you, please just let us know, a return is not an issue.

We try very hard to implement our products in the highest possible quality. Our bags, accessories and backpacks from the FISH and CEMENT collections are made in a social workshop in Cambodia, where only physically disabled people work. Sometimes it happens that weak points appear, which we often only discover through use after some time. However, these are immediately improved so that our products continue to improve. We will be happy to repair your products free of charge if they have not been in use for years. This applies to every REFISHED product, if something is wrong with it, please always report it. We're always happy to make improvements.

If you need a product particularly urgently, please contact us directly by telephone on +43/664/1123222. We will be happy to organise express delivery and tell you what is possible. Costs for express shipping within Austria: 12 EUR (order by 11:00 in the morning, delivery by 12:00 the next working day). Prices vary greatly abroad.

• Austria & Germany: 2-4 working days
• EU & Switzerland: 4-7 working days
• Worldwide: 7-14 working days

As we are a small team, there may be delays in the processing time. If you need something particularly urgently, you can indicate this in the shopping basket request field when ordering or send us an email (office@refished.com).

• Austria & Germany: Free shipping from €75 order value, below €4.90 shipping costs.
• Slovenia: Free shipping from €75 order value, below €8.90 shipping costs.
• Rest of Europe: Free shipping from €100 order value, below €12 shipping costs.
• Worldwide: 19,90€

We ship all orders from Austria. If customs costs are incurred (e.g. to Switzerland, England), you must pay these yourself.

Our products can be shipped worldwide. If customs costs are charged, these will be covered by you as the buyer.

All our boxes are made from recycled materials. You won't find any plastic packaging or unnecessary stuffing material.

For an extra charge, you can choose our most sustainable shipping method ‘ReduceReuse’ at checkout. With this shipping method, we send you your order in a reusable shipping bag, which you then send back to us - without shipping costs - so that we can reuse it. This means no unnecessary packaging waste! You can find more information here.

We deliver with the Austrian Post or DHL to Germany or

with GLS to Austria. The choice of service provider depends on the destination country. Some internal processes are also supported by Quivo.

If you have any special requests regarding the shipping service provider, please let us know in the comments field in the shopping basket.

Yes, as soon as your order has been dispatched, you will receive an email with your tracking number. If you have been waiting an unusually long time for your parcel, please check the tracking or contact us.

Please contact us directly so that we can quickly find a solution for you.

In 2012, founder Sissi took a career break and went travelling through Southeast Asia. The colourful fish food and cement bags were a constant companion on her journey. Inspired by this, she finally had the brilliant idea: the bags were simply too beautiful to be thrown away. So why not simply make bags and other accessories from the hard-wearing material? You can find out what happened next and more about our origin story HERE.

REFISHED stands for sustainable, handmade upcycled bags made from recycled fish food sacks, cement bags and other high-quality materials. Each product is unique with a story - manufactured under fair conditions and with great attention to detail.

Founder Sissi Vogler is surrounded by a small but excellent team. You can get to know Sissi, the team in Vienna and the sewers in Cambodia HERE.

Founder Sissi Vogler designs all the bags together with her mother Isolde Vogler. You can find out more about the mother-daughter duo HERE. The print on the fish food bags is already on the original material. The design duo come up with a stylish and practical bag cut to perfectly showcase you and your bag.

We are always launching new products and new colours. Our newsletter subscribers are always the first to hear about our activities! Sign up here now.

For an insight, you can follow us on Instagram (@refished), Facebook (@refished) and Youtube (@refished). We report on defining moments on our Stories Blog and our newsletter provides you with the most important events and product launches! Click HERE to sign up for our newsletter.

In upcycling, materials are creatively reprocessed to give them a whole new value without having to break them down into their individual parts beforehand, as would be the case with recycling. For example, we take the fish food bags that would otherwise have ended up in the bin and turn them into our colourful, sustainable bags. In this way, we avoid waste, save resources and reduce our carbon footprint.

As a fair fashion brand, we want to protect people and nature at every stage of production. We pay attention to various aspects in the production of our items:

1. Fair payment of the seamstresses 
2. Transparency: You can get to know our seamstresses under People and each product also states who made it.
3. Sustainability: We endeavour to make our products as sustainable as possible and to produce them in such a way that they last as long as possible.

Click HERE for our company values.

We mainly use upcycled materials that are produced fairly and to a high standard in a workshop in Cambodia. We have high design standards and want to be as transparent as possible with our customers when it comes to the origin and manufacture of all products.

At REFISHED, we work directly with workshops in Cambodia, pay fair wages and ensure safe working conditions. By upcycling, we also create a production free of harmful substances, which is good for both the environment and the sewers.

With our profits, the proceeds from our charity raffle and a share of our Art Edition, we regularly support smaller schools in Cambodia that are dependent on donations. You can find one of our projects HERE.

On a long journey through Asia, founder Sissi Vogler came up with the idea of making bags from used fish food sacks and cement bags in Cambodia. The economically underdeveloped country and the difficult fate of the people touched Sissi deeply and she wanted to help locally. She did and continues to do this with her sewing orders, which provide local jobs, especially for physically disadvantaged people. But that was and is not enough, Sissi also wants to help small, socially disadvantaged people in Cambodia to lead a better life. An important basis for this is, of course, children's education, which is why she regularly provides financial support to small schools in rural areas through REFISHED.

Our #FISH- and #CEMENT-Collectionen are made in a social workshop in Cambodia, which we have been working with for 14 years. We order and ship a large quantity of parcels (usually around 12 moving boxes) from Cambodia to Austria 4-6 times a year. We have chosen to ship by air with DHL Express because it produces the same amount of CO2 as sea transport and is many times slower. The costs are the same for our small quantities. It is important to us to minimize the amount we need to ship from Asia to Europe as much as possible each year. All other collections are sewn in Vienna, where our headquarters are located.

We produce in small quantities and only use upcycling to manufacture our products.

Firstly, think about how much you really need the product and whether you will use it for a long time. The longer your products last without being replaced by others, the more sustainable your consumption will be. If a new purchase is unavoidable, make sure it is produced sustainably and fairly.

Im Upcycling-Bereich gibt es noch keine Gütesiegel. Die Sache ist nämlich auch etwas schwierig, da man ja aus allen bestehenden Dingen im Grunde etwas Neues machen kann. Als upcycelnde Firma hat man auf die Produktion der ursprünglichen Materialen keinerlei Einfluss. Es gibt zwar zahlreiche Gütesiegel betreffend der Produktion bzw. des Abbaus von neu gewonnen Materialien (zb Baumwolle) wie zb „Fair Trade Cotton“ oder „GOTS“, die eignen sich aber nicht für REFISHEDs Anwendungsfall.

We have decided to build trust in the direction of production and in the direction of customers. By communicating transparently about the people who make our products and the workshop, we want to show customers that we have nothing to hide and that we play with our cards face up. If customers have any further questions, they can contact us at any time and we will be happy to provide detailed information.

Our#FISH- und #CEMENT-Collectionen are made in a social workshop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The #FLAGS-Collection is sewn in a Viennese sewing workshop in the 6th district. As a rule of thumb: in order to keep production routes as short as possible, production takes place where the material would have accumulated as waste.

The basis for REFISHED's fair and sustainable production is our trust in our production partner from the very beginning. The social workshop was founded back in 1996 to offer people with physical disabilities (in Cambodia the whole country is still full of landmines from the Khmer Rouge period) training and work in compliance with all fair trade criteria. The aim is also to integrate this very large group of people (approx. 4% of the population!) into society. Sophan Chan, himself a disabled person and an employee since the workshop was founded, has been running the workshop since 2006. Sissi Vogler visits the workshop once a year and is in daily contact. She talks to all the seamstresses and also introduces them on the website under PEOPLE . The sewer signs their name on every product. This is REFISHED's way of showing that each bag was actually sewn by a person who can improve their standard of living through their work.

Founder Sissi Vogler was particularly touched by the country and its people when she travelled around the world in 2011. A terrible fate befell many people in this country during the Khmer Rouge period, almost an entire generation was wiped out. The people here help each other a lot, even though they have very little. This is where her rethinking began and she decided to help through her orders.

The textile industry of the ‘West’ has caused a lot of damage in many developing countries, including Cambodia. Instead of thinking only ‘regionally’, Sissi Vogler also finds it important to think globally and to balance things out.

The design part is entirely up to Sissi and her mother Isolde Vogler. In the social workshop in Phnom Penh, the used sacks are first cut open completely, then washed with water and a brush, then hung up and dried. The next step is to cut them to size. Then they are sewn on the machine and finally press studs, for example, are added. If the products are not made on site but by homeworkers, the cleaned bags and everything needed for the product are taken by tuc-tuc to the individual seamstresses and sewers who live in the countryside. At the end, the finished products are collected again.

The social workshop we have been working with since the beginning of 2012 strictly adheres to all fair trade criteria in the textile sector. It is always tidy and clean, no chemicals are used in the work, people are paid fair wages and fair working hours are observed.
Two of the seamstresses live in the neighbourhood during the week and the workshop pays 50% of their rent. At the weekend, they always go home to their families in the countryside.

Our workshop manager Sophan explains that wages are very low in the large textile factories in Cambodia and that people only earn some money by working an incredible amount of overtime. They don't see their families for several weeks at a time and have to live in isolation on the factory premises.

Yes, if you have a shop and our concept suits your product range, please contact us and we will send you all the retailer information.

Would you like a special product with your (brand) name? We can brand any of our products with your logo. You can find information about branding HERE.

As a gift for employees or customers, for example, you can have advertising materials upcycled into new bags. Find out more HERE . And THIS is what founder Sissi says about B2B upcycling.

No, we are not a collection centre for the disposal of old materials. However, we will be happy to produce a small series for you from the material (e.g. tarpaulins, sails, parachutes...) and can also brand the bags and accessories with your LOGO. Please send us your enquiry by email to office@refished.com .

Yes, we do that. Are you an influencer and would like to collaborate? Get in TOUCH and we'll see if we're a good fit!

Yes, we regularly send out all the latest news to our press mailing list. You can sign up HERE . HERE are a few press clippings. HERE you can find our open press area.

HERE you can find our open press area.