Materials

The original form of recycling: all of the leather we use is a direct byproduct of the food industry. We are committed to our environmental and social responsibility, so all of our hides are sourced from local suppliers. As for quality, we will only work with premium leather. We take great care in selecting superior-quality hides so that your piece is thick yet supple, structured, and luxurious. We use full-grain and top-grain leathers exclusively which provides a range of design elements from highly finished to more organic. Using these grades of leather means your piece will grow more beautiful with age as its finish matures with a distinct patina and fibers remain strong. Your piece will have that coveted, unique, burnished presence. For different shades we rely on only a natural process: vegetable-tanned leather, a dyeing process with colors derived from plant tannins yielding organically beautiful tones.

The original water-resistant fabric. Classic and timeless for good reason. We use the top-tier waxed canvas to make our bags: an 18-oz filter twill that ages gracefully and looks smart doing so. Waxed canvas is hard-wearing and waterproof, whilst simultaneously an aesthetically pleasing material which is increasingly used in the production of fashion accessories. It is pleasant to handle and develops a rich patina as it ages.

If you can’t rely on your thread, snaps and finishing touches, you can’t make something that is built to last. We are particular about our components to ensure structural integrity for all of our products. We offer a lifetime warranty, so we make sure that the hardware we use can take a lifetime's worth of bumps and tumbles.

Our hardware is made of solid or nickel-plated brass, and our zippers are always of the highest quality (heavy-duty, self-healing YKK nylon coil zipper chain). When you read that our goods are handmade, we mean it, even in the details: our rivets are hand set, we make our own ballistic nylon binding to make sure it matches the strength of our bag materials, and we make our own leather binding to ensure it matches the strength and color of the leather used in bag production.

First synthesized in 1935, this exceptionally strong material pervades our products in numerous ways. Nylon thread can handle an extraordinary amount of stress before it breaks when stretched or pulled. With a tensile strength of 12,400 psi and excellent resistance to abrasions and chemicals, this is our thread of choice. One of our essential product materials is textured, basket-weave, ballistic nylon. Originally conceived to protect soldiers’ skin from shrapnel in WWII, ballistic nylon was designed to take a beating at 1000 denier (military grade), but that wasn’t good enough for us. We use ballistic nylon of the highest durability possible at 1680 denier--far higher than the military standard. We wanted to ensure that your bag would look great for years to come and that it could conceivable last lifetimes.  The superlative stability of our ballistic nylon plus, its waterproof-backing, and the perfected design elements of our product construction gives you a bag (or accessory) born of utility and steeped in class. To line our bags we use 4-ply Taslan nylon--a strong, durable, stain-resistant, and water-resistant fabric to offer the feel of cotton with the benefits of advanced fiber technology. Also, you’ll no longer have to fumble in the dark looking for your belongings with the bright interior shades acting like a light in your bag!