leather

All Hands

Monday 28 July, 2014 · 1

Jen Stillwell is a designer based in NYC who started her leather company All Hands when she was working on a ship, travelling around the world as a member of an artisan development fund aimed at promoting and supporting indigenous artisans. her pieces are SO SO SO beautiful. this one in particular made my heart beat a little faster.

In order to combat the extreme solitude that sometimes comes with living at sea, I set up a portable leather studio in the bow of the ship. It was during this time that I decided to start creating my own designs after years of apprenticing for various master leather craftsmen both in Argentina and the UK. It is my goal to start with domestic production of goods, and over time to move a percentage of my production overseas to artisan groups and women’s collectives in order to help support a sense of purpose, pride, better wages and fairer working conditions in communities which may not otherwise support these ideals.

All Hands on deck. buy them here.

SUL

Thursday 3 July, 2014 · 12

i really feel like my bag obsession is getting out of hand. sometimes i think i might to have to buy duplicate wallets and cosmetics and keys just so i can keep a set in each of my bags (don’t you hate transferring your stuff every time? yes i know that is the ultimate in laziness). SUL is a bag company from Portugal who make some seriously nice hand-crafted leather pieces. really into this one and this one. dig the embossing too.

Our bags are handmade, one by one, by artisans who spend all the time needed until they are perfect. They are manufactured in small editions and with leathers that inspire us. If we find a beautiful leather, which fits to one of our models, we take advantage of it, even if with it we can make a single and unique bag.

check out their beautiful lookbook here. photographed by Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo

Georgie Cummings

Monday 12 May, 2014 · 3

i want Georgie Cummings to come to my house with her gold marker pen and draw all over all of the things. i love her new collection Symmetry, which you can shop here.

inspired by simplistic shapes, using clean lines and balance to feature the natural beauty of the leather. including the all over ‘fur’ print available in gold foil on select items. constructed entirely by hand and made to last.

photography by Ben Christensen

Rennes Giveaway!

Tuesday 6 May, 2014 ·

the giveaway is now closed. thanks for entering!

i’ve been looking forward to this giveaway, because i have long been an admirer of Rennes. working from her studio in Boston, Julia has been designing and sewing all her own designs since 2008. she is well known for her exquisite bags and pouches, but also makes clothing and sweet ceramics. right now Rennes is transitioning from an entirely handmade line to having some pieces sewn with local manufacturers. enter the Mini Château Duffle.

It’s so important to me to keep the production process local and to support local manufacturing in my home state – and there aren’t many factories in New England that make leather goods! Through this process I’ve been able to perfect different design ideas because the factory has tools and machines that I don’t have. The first design I had made is the Mini Château Duffle bag that I designed a few years ago and I’m very happy with how the first production run went. I’m excited to see where this takes me and can’t wait for what happens next!

to celebrate summer and the launch of the new Mini Château Duffle, Rennes is giving away a Mini Château Duffle in the colour of your choice (black, red or tobacco) to one lucky reader!

- TO ENTER -

1. go to Rennes and tell me what your favourite item is in a comment below.
2. pick your favourite colour Mini Château Duffle, and also leave that in the comment
3. follow Rennes on Instagram or Pinterest

the giveaway is open to anyone anywhere in the world. readers outside the US must please note that you may be subject to your country’s customs charges / import duties upon arrival, which you are responsible for. the giveaway ends on Tuesday 13 May. The winner will be randomly selected in a lucky draw & notified via email.

Thisispaper Shop II

Thursday 1 May, 2014 · 0

around this time last year i blogged about the launch of Thisispaper Shop. they have just relaunched, with a brand new website and new products. i particularly love all their bags, which are all handmade in their studio in Warsaw. the detailing on the leather is lovely, and i dig that line – “what we save, saves us.”

Our bags and rucksacks are designed and hand made by a small but passionate team at our Warsaw studio. At every stage of the process we aim to minimise waste and our environmental footprint, and maximise support for local community and suppliers. We only use genuine vegetabletanned leather and durable cotton and canvas. Instead of decoration, we go for simplicity, function and sustainability.

this is only a smidge of what is available, also check out their entire shop here.

Lotuff in Marfa

Thursday 24 April, 2014 · 6

remember i posted about Lotuff last year? well they are literally going places. the leather bag company has recently collaborated with Barneys (aka, made the big time) and then got super cool, adventurous & talented duo Miles & Miles to shoot their spring lookbook in Marfa, Texas.

Miles & Miles are Sarah and Stefaan (that’s Sarah in all the pics) – who have been together since high school, and left their jobs as designers in NYC to travel the world. you can learn more about them in this little interview.

the bags are of course wonderful. i love that big ole tote and dig that suede duffel bag. watch the video at the end, it’s really sweet.

bags by Lotuff available at Barneys. photography, video, editing & music all by Miles & Miles.

Mum & Co

Thursday 27 March, 2014 · 12

i love these pink pink pink leather bags by Mum & Co. so lush. the story behind these delightful bags is very sweet, go read it here, but in short – Mum & Co is a family business (as you might expect from the name) made up of two stylish daughters and one very talented mom, to be exact.

Somewhere after hours, in her spare time, in the afternoons she would draw, watch things on the Internet. Quietly, so that nobody could see, she would choose pieces of leather carefully, comparing the colors in the light of a cloudless day. Later came the time for the lining – the right one, the only one. Then came the threads, the cord, the strap, and the metal clips. While the rest of the family was gone, she dusted off the old Singer hidden in the attic. Putting her heart into it, and the innate attention to the smallest detail, mum immersed herself in moments of complete silence in front of the sewing machine. Listening to the soothing rumble, she measured, cut, and sew. And sew. And sew…

you can buy the bags at their website or on Etsy.

Bandelier

Monday 10 March, 2014 · 11

Andria Crescioni is the designer behind Bandelier, a southern California based jewellery label that takes inspiration from traditional craft and culture, with each piece made by hand by Andria herself. she graduated from Parsons School of Design and that’s where she became hooked on working with leather as a medium and started experimenting with jewellery making. so she decided to start her own line that was “modern and minimal, but rooted in traditional craft.”

When I’m developing new Bandelier pieces I usually start at the LA central library and get lost. I’m inspired by industrial design and modern sculpture- right now I’m obsessed with Martin Puryear and Carl Aubock. Then it’s a fluid combination of sampling and sketching until I’m satisfied with the piece. I’m inspired by my surroundings as well- I like to take a drive out to the desert or the mountains near my home when I need to clear my head and re-connect with nature.

you can buy her pieces online at Young & Able or Need Supply Co.
images c/o Bandelier photographed by Andrew Lee. quote c/o of this interview with Andrea at Young & Able.

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