Why is there a leather tradition in your region?
The river! It attracted a settlement of tanneries. At one point, it was Europe’s main tannery centre, with workers in all aspects of the trade, including manufacturers and merchants. When my father moved here many years ago, there were still many. Now, sadly, their number has dwindled.
Your designs are deceptively simple – surely that takes time?
Yes, sometimes people underestimate the effort it takes to create a good design. Each pattern has hundreds of parts, and they need to be cut, sharpened, split and then sewn together. We worked for a long time on the seams of the zippers for example. Translating thought into reality might take two years.
© All rights reserved
Does architectural construction inspire you?
Yes, as do music and contemporary art. Some of our bags are named after the painter Cy Twombly. Our signature bag is simply called Lucid, reflecting our search for clarity.
It seems your peers in the design field appreciate your work…
We were very excited when Wallpaper* asked us to participate in their handmade project and show at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. We worked on a travel trolley, KAGE. It was our first trolley suitcase, and it was a lot of work, but it felt amazing to see it standing there once it was ready!