Founded in 1876, Lancel began as a producer of luxurious smoking instruments and gentlemen’s accessories, silverware, dinnerware and even timepieces. However, it was their leather goods and complementing travelware that would see the brand becomming a big hit with Parisian society. The firm slowly repositioned itself as a manufacturer of elegant bags, luggage and leather products. Their trunks and suitcases were very popular in the age of steamship travel and the early years of aviation travel, putting the firm on a similar footing to other great malletiers of the age. The brand was acquired by the luxury goods conglomerate, Richemont, before being sold to Piquadro who currently steward this illustrious marque.
Tag Archives: LUGGAGE
ALMINI
A boutique Milanese shoemaker and leather goods atelier that was established by Pietro Almini in 1921. The marque is renowned as a maker of high-quality, handmade footwear, bespoke to a customer’s exact specifications. Almini uses a wide range of hides and tans with a full suite of colourways. Their casual shoes are particularly sought after. The brand’s craftsmanship extends to various leather goods and accessories including bags, belts and travelling accoutrements.
RIMOWA
Rimowa, like so many of our most celebrated luxury brands, began life as a saddlery in the 19th Century, crafting high quality equestrian goods, accessories and leather goods for exacting customers in the age of horse-drawn travel. The company, founded in 1898 by Paul Morszeck and his business partner, Heinrich Görtz, traded as Görtz & Morszeck and quickly developed a reputation for excellence. Görtz left in 1900 and Morszeck would take the company a different direction, focussing on saddlebags, travel trunks and luggage, embracing the advent in aviation and steamship travel. When his son, Richard, joined the business in 1931, changing the businesses name to a play on his own, Rimowa would begin to craft the highest quality luggage, robust and indestructible and inspired by the flight cases used by pilots. This design brief would become the house’s signature and is still very much in demand today. The house was taken over by the luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH, in 2016.
SMYTHSON
Frank Smythson opened his eponymous stationers in London in 1887 and soon garnered a reputation as a purveyor of the highest quality provisions for London’s smartest families. The house’s bespoke stationery was comprised of the finest materials allowing their customers to convey their extremely high tastes, not to mention their capacity to spare no expense. Smythson’s became a firm favourite of the Royal family and other great households across Europe. The firm expanded their range to include diaries, notebooks, travel accessories and leather goods, particularly bag & handbags, made to the same exacting standards and luxurious brief as their traditional stationery.
HERMÈS
The ultimate in luxury brands, Hermès is synonymous with opulent and sumptuous goods, finished to the highest standards. This house has perfected the art of luxury since its foundation as a saddlery in 1837. From the outset, the Hermès brand was a favourite of the highest of nobility and the Parisian elite who would seek out no other maker for their equestrian and carriage equipment. The maison would use it’s leather-making expertise to craft various other accoutrement essential to the comfortable travel of its distinguished customers, including luggage and travel cases. With the advent of the automotive age, the brand would apply its prestige and know-how to upholstering the very best motor cars and expanding into leather goods, such as handbags, belts, boots and so forth. This also marked the transformation of the brand into a high fashion label, renowned for their selection of the best materials and elaborate prints to create beautiful accessories and apparel. Today the brand stands as the height of luxury, admired and desired throughout the world.
MOYNAT
Moynat is one of the great Parisian malletiers alongside Goyard and Louis Vuitton, famous for it’s high-end luxury trunks and luggage and synonymous with the golden age of travel. Similar to their rivals, Moynat is easily identified by their distinctive patterns and colourways and the high-quality finish. The brand became a darling of European society, with many celebrated and royal patrons. The brand fell out of favour as air travel replaced ocean liners but the brand was revived by LVMH with Luvanis and reinstated as one of the world’s pre-eminent luxury brands, specialising in leather goods, bags & handbags, luggage and fragrances.
DELVAUX
This Belgian luxury goods marque is the oldest high-end leather goods maker in the world, tracing its foundation back to 1829 when Charles Delvaux opened his eponymous store in Brussels. With a reputation for excellence in their craftsmanship and an exquisite attention to detail, Delvaux became a preferred brand to much of Europe’s aristocratic and noble classes, eventually earning a warrant as purveyors to the Royal Court of Belgium in 1883. The brand was particularly known for their luggage and steam trunks in the golden age of travel but has successfully reinvented themselves in the modern age as a fabricator of must-have handbags and other leather accessories. The house continues upon that tradition today as a label in the Richemont luxury goods stable.
AGRESTI: THE FIRST CHOICE IN SECURE, LUXURY CABINETRY AND STORAGE
Agresti is an acclaimed Florentine manufactory producing beautiful, hand-crafted secure storage units, such as safes, armories and watch-winder vaults. The house uses only the finest quality materials in their production, ensuring an elegant, luxurious finish befitting the valuables secured within.
HESCHUNG: THE GRAND ALSATIAN SHOEMAKERS
Heschung is an iconic, luxury French shoemaker that has been handcrafting high-quality shoes in Alsace since 1934. The company is known for its timeless designs, reverse welt construction, and use of premium materials. Heschung shoes are made with a variety of leathers, including Anicalf, a full-grain leather that is known for its strength and durability. The company also uses hydrovelour leather, which is a water-resistant leather that is ideal for boots and other shoes that will be exposed to the elements.
CONNOLLY: AN ICONIC MAKER OF LEATHER GOODS
Connolly is a British luxury leather brand founded in 1878. The brand is known for its high-quality leather goods, which are used in a variety of industries, including automotive, aviation, marine, furniture and the House’s very own line of fashion and accessories. Connolly leather is sourced from the finest hides from around the world and is tanned and finished using traditional methods. The brand’s leather is known for its durability, softness, and beauty.
FITZGABRIELS 