António Mateus founded his atelier in 1982 to create handmade leather bags and wallets. Located in Benedita, a small city in the centre of Portugal with a long leather craft tradition, this family business started with António personally training young artisans. A perfectionist, he instilled in them the importance of hard work and attention to detail. He soon gained a reputation for high quality and started manufacturing pieces for other brands. Today, António is retired and the atelier is run by two of his daughters; Ana, a fashion designer and Sara, a graphic designer.

Their mission is to continue his legacy and develop it further. While still producing for others, they created António – A Handmade Story, in 2017, to pay tribute to António’s work and show the incredible expertise of their craftspeople. Belonging to an environmentally conscious generation, the sisters choose only fully vegetable treated leather, nickel free metallic accessories and pure cotton for the linings. Each collection is named after a family member making it truly a family story.