About

Hi! I'm Nikki Duong Koenig, the Founder/Chief Cykochik (ˈsīkō ˈchik) – which derived from the words "cycle" and "chick", because I believe that everything in life has a cycle and we are all interconnected. Cykochik was a label I created while a student at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, TX in 2003 for my various creative projects handmade from reCYcled materials, and never looked back!

2013 marked Cykochik's 10 year anniversary and my decision to leave my corporate marketing career to dedicate 100% of my time to growing Cykochik and to help make this world a better place for people, animals, and the planet. I may be a little bit "unconventional" in pursuing my passions and purpose, but I'm having fun coloring outside of the lines! I'm a lifelong animal lover and activist who believes in compassion for all living beings, and practice an ethical vegan lifestyle. 

Cykochik is a collection of all my loves for art/fashion/animals/nature/humanity and I hope you'll love it as much as I have creating it for you!

See our 10 Years in Picture Recap | Read my LAFC's Entrepreneur Spotlight Interview

Over the years Cykochik has grown to be an internationally-awarded compassionate brand recognized for our creative, cruelty-free, eco-friendly, and custom-made vegan handbags. In 2013, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)'s President, Ingrid E. Newkirk awarded Cykochik the Compassionate Business Award. 

"PETA applauds Cykochik’s commitment to leaving animals out of their collections. Their bags are trendy, chic and most importantly cruelty-free! The leaping bunny design in the PETA Cause Collection serves as a symbol of freedom for animals from suffering and often-painful death for fashion. Our hats (vegan, of course) are off to Cykochik and we wish every company would follow their example. Growing numbers of consumers certainly do!" -Ingrid E. Newkirk, President
PETA

OUR 3 LOVES

Creativity (Head)

Cykochik was created as an outlet for creative expressions and creativity remains the central nervous system of our existence today. We strive to create ideas and innovations in fashion that will help us achieve our vision of a better world.    

Craftsmanship (Hands)

We love to work with our hands and try to preserve the artisanal handicrafts of sewing/weaving/ printmaking/sculpting while also embracing technology to ensure quality products that will last for many seasons. 

Community (Heart)

People are the heart and soul of Cykochik. We exist because of the loving support of our community of family, friends, fans, artists, artisans, and partners worldwide - who give us life and purpose. We are eternally grateful and giveback to our community often.   

OUR MISSION

To cultivate a global collaborative community of artists, artisans, and art patrons in offering creative and cruelty-free fabulous fashion to benefit people, animals, and our planet. 

OUR VISION

A more compassionate, sustainable, and happy world for all living beings. A world where animals are not exploited for fashion, where workers earn fair wages, and natural resources are protected.   

OUR WHY

We want to make a positive economic, environmental, and ethical impact in our community and the world. We believe in the freedom of self-expression while not endangering people, animals, or our planet in the process. Our handbags are made of cruelty-free, vegan materials and also eco-friendly materials. Each bag is handcrafted with love in our studio in Dallas, TX since 2003.

Non-profit Organizations

We also believe in supporting our local community, advocating for animals, and supporting the arts through our Causes Collection and these non-profit organizations:

PETA

We are a proud member of PETA Business Friends – an innovative partnership for compassionate companies willing to assist in PETA’s ground-breaking work to stop animal abuse and suffering. We believe that all animals are our friends – not fabrics, and do not use materials/supplies made from animals in our handbags.

ATG Against The Grain Productions - Dallas, TX
Nikki Duong Koenig has served on ATG's Board of Directors since 2010; currently as Ambassador, previously Vice President and Director of Marketing/PR. ATG is a Dallas 501(c)3 nonprofit organization aiding orphanages in South East Asia and also supporting emerging Asian American artists and leaders stateside.

Nikki has also served as a member of the Orchid Giving Circle, a Fund at the Texas Women’s Foundation, since 2019, in supporting social change and services for the North Texas Asian community. Cykochik collaborated with OGC on a custom embroidered fold-over clutch for our Causes Collection in 2019.

We're also a proud supporter of these wonderful organizations!
The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane League 
Farm Sanctuary

We are a small independent brand and we're still around today because of the support of our wonderful community worldwide! Thank you so much for backing us on Kickstarter and helping us surpass our $10,000 goal on April 7th, 2013. You've helped Nikki Duong Koenig pursue her 10-year passion full time and made the Artist Series 3 :: 10 Year Collection a reality. Here's to 10+ more years of growing our creativity, craftsmanship, and community!!

We'd like to thank a few of our wonderful backers publicly (with their permission) who believes in our passion and vision!