Full Grain Leather Messenger Bag

The Quality Story - Introduction

When I had my first bag made in 1999, I knew as much about what goes into a quality leather bag as a dog knows about what goes into a quality cat trap. Like the dog, I just wanted it to be curiously attractive, to not lose what’s in it and to smell nice. I didn’t feel like I was asking for much, but I’ve since learned that I was.

How to Knock off
A leather bag

Watch this offensive video we put together that touches the tip of the quality iceberg and you’ll see what I’ve been learning.

If you’ve ever bought a leather suit or sofa or briefcase that went from Ferrari to sorry in 4.3 seconds and you don’t know why, then you need to keep on reading. If you haven’t yet, then you still should keep on reading.

My hope is that the more you know about quality and craftsmanship, the less you’ll get took and feel stupid and the more you’ll insist on quality in all you buy. And that it’ll spread. We’re not trying to save the world here, but by spotlighting high quality and craftsmanship we can do our part by lowering the demand for low quality and therefore for slave labor, chemicals in rivers and maybe save you some money along the way. And... if you can learn from my painful low quality experiences then it’ll mean that it wasn’t all for naught and it’ll make me feel better.

So in 1999 when I walked into the little shop in Morelia, Mexico, to give the leather craftsman my design, he asked me what kind of leather I wanted it to be made of. I pretty much just said, “like, ummm… the thick cow kind. Oh yeah, and with no breakable parts. And remember… I want them to fight over it when I’m dead.” That’s all I needed to say. He took care of the rest. Well, here’s some of what I’ve learned about what goes into a quality leather bag.