Nicole Flowers is on to something big. With her trendy style and social awareness, she's making a dream a reality. Her newly launched company, hiip, creates bags that are not only cool, but they help people in need. What could be better?
What is hiip? hiip [helping individuals in passing] is a bag company with a purpose.They come in multiple colors and patterns and they put the fun in multifunctional. We've got adorable styles to choose from and there are so many ways to wear them [on or off the belt and even as a clutch]. The best part about the company, though, is the social component. For every hiip bag you purchase, we donate a hiip kit to a person in need. The kits are filled with basic necessities and we encourSUMMER 2012
age those who are in the area to go with us on hiip handouts to pass them out. The idea is that we give back while we build the community through purposeful interactions.
Tell us how the idea for hiip came to be? I was actually sitting in my apartment eating dinner and finishing up the book Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie and just asked myself what I could do with my skill set. I thought about what I was good at, who I wanted to impact, and
how I could merge the two. The idea of redesigning the fanny pack came to mind and I went with it. I am a person of high but risky fashion sense so I wasn't sure I could convince people that it was time to bring this necessary item back into rotation; my gut told me a solid yes but I didn't hedge my bets until I passed it by a few friends. I have a heart for those in great need, a huge part of which is the homeless community in America (San Francisco more specifically), and I felt that hiip bags could be beneficial all around. The