I am still here in Firenze, working the days away. I am now splitting my time between three different artisans: one specializing in bags, another in belts, and one in shoes.
Since I last posted I have sold a handful of my grain sack bags such as those photographed below. I constructed all of them by hand using vintage materials. They are now on sale at Ceri Vintage in Firenze and I might be ready to take orders online very soon when I officially launch the Leather Lab site.
After a year of formal training, I realized that my interests lie in making relatively simple bags. Of course I recognize and appreciate that it sometimes requires learning very complex patterns and construction techniques to execute a simple form properly. The patterning and construction of the corners of these tote bags is something that I extracted from a more complicated bag I had designed (remember the black passantini bag?) It was a minor detail on that bag which took me three months to complete that became a critical detail on a simple bag.
Great attention is consistently paid to the length of the tracolla (shoulder strap). It is my mission in life to create bags that are comfortable worn in the summer or winter over a jacket, with a long enough drop to fit comfortably under your arm or as a messenger style.
I have been continuing to work with Roberto Ugolini, the shoe artisan, as we are in the final stages of my first shoe prototype. I conducted an interview in his shop for a fellow Tuscan blogger, Alexandra Korey. http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanyarts/florence-leather-artisan-mens-shoes/
Alexandra and I spent a great morning together, and she made me realize what a large network of skilled artisans I have made here. It takes a lot of time to enter into this closely bonded community, and then a lot of patience to build these very important relationships. As we all know, especially in Italy, it really is about who you know (and who knows you, and everything about you, and still wants to work with you). I met each artisan with whom I am working through another.
I am working on a leather wrapped chair which is in its final stages,
and alongside another artisan at a laboratorio in Calenzano outside of Firenze to make my bags. The chair project made me quite famous here, since I had one artisan complete the ferro (iron work) and am working with another to complete the leather. Of course there is one man in town who transports pieces from one place to another and this chair has now made it from Piazza Santo Spirito to the outskirts, back into the center of town, from one artisan shop to another.
Since belts are a critical component of my grain sack bags, I sought out a means for small production, which led me to this incredibly talented artisan who specializes in belts. More to come on that later... but not too much later, I promise!
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