'Handmade' is an expression you see everywhere. It deserves to be made precise. Here is exactly what we mean when we write that a WENLIH bag is handmade in Tuscany.
What 'handmade' means for us
A WENLIH bag is made in a leather goods workshop in Scandicci, near Florence, by leather artisans. The operations that give the bag its shape are carried out manually, in several passes:
- cutting the pieces from the hide, taking the grain into account;
- splitting and skiving, which set the thickness of the leather;
- assembly and stitching;
- edge dyeing, which is repeated several times; on the Vrille, the edges are hand-painted.
Each step is followed by an inspection. The bag is revisited, refined and checked before it leaves.
What it does not mean
- It does not mean that no tools are involved. A leather goods workshop uses sewing machines, splitting and skiving tools. What is manual is the guidance of each gesture and the judgement at each step.
- It does not mean 'made by the designer herself'. The design is done in Paris; manufacturing is entrusted to artisans whose profession it is.
- It does not mean 'unique'. Two bags of the same edition are designed to be identical. What varies is the natural grain of the leather.
Why it matters to us
A bag made this way takes time. That time settles into the object: in the regularity of the edges, in the hold of the flap, in the way the leather folds without breaking. This is what allows a bag to last beyond a season.
How to recognise it
Look at the edges: an edge dyed in several layers, smooth and regular. Open the bag: the lining is lambskin, not fabric. Weigh it: a 14 cm Vrille weighs 180 g, because the leather has been brought to the right thickness.
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