This handbag is made of Kuba cloth  a hand woven raffia cloth procued by the Kuba people deep within the jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo. These cloths were used as a form of currency, as material for clothing, and for ceremonial purposes in this region for centuries. The cloth is very labor intensive to produce. The leaves of the raffia palm are pounded until the fibers fray and come apart resulting in individual strands of raffia much like linen. Men work the fibers and weave the cloth and the women dye the fibers with natural compounds to create the extraordinlary designs.