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Black is the colour people buy when the bag has to go with everything they already own, and it is also the colour where corner cutting is easiest to hide. A coated black bag looks identical to an aniline dyed one in a photograph. The difference shows the first time you catch it on a car door.
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Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote BagsScratch a pigmented black leather and you get a pale grey line, because the colour is a film sitting on a sanded surface. Scratch aniline dyed full grain and the mark buffs back with a thumb, because the dye has gone through the hide. Ours are the second kind, on every black bag on this page. In daylight they read as very dark brown rather than pure black, which is the giveaway that nothing has been sprayed over the top.
Every design we make comes in black: the open top Marlow in two sizes, the zip top Lorne in two, the hand woven Wren, and the small Juno. The woven black is the one worth looking at twice, because from three paces it reads as a solid panel and only close up does the basketweave appear.
We dye charcoal over a naturally grey hide rather than cutting black with white, so it stays cool rather than turning brown in strong light. It sits between black and brown and belongs to neither, which is the point of it.
Black shows dust, not scratches. A dry cloth once a week does more for it than conditioner does. Do not use a coloured polish on aniline leather, ever.
| Bag | Opening | Closure | Laptop | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juno, small | 26cm | Brass zip | No | $149 |
| Wren, small, woven | 28cm | Open top | No | $179 |
| Marlow, medium | 35cm | Magnetic tab | 13 inch | $185 |
| Lorne, medium | 36cm | Brass zip | 14 inch | $199 |
| Marlow, large | 40cm | Magnetic tab | 16 inch | $209 |
| Wren, regular, woven | 36cm | Open top | 13 inch | $215 |
| Lorne, large | 41cm | Brass zip | 16 inch | $225 |
Charcoal sits alongside these as a second dark tone. It is dyed over a naturally grey hide rather than black cut with white, so it stays cool instead of turning brown in strong light, and against a black coat it reads as a deliberate choice rather than a near miss.
First, look at a photograph taken in daylight. Aniline dyed full grain reads as very dark brown outdoors and only looks pure black indoors. A bag that is identically flat black in every photograph has a pigment film over a sanded surface. Second, look for grain. On real full grain the surface has visible texture and the colour sits slightly deeper inside the grain lines. A perfectly uniform surface has been corrected, embossed and sprayed.
Neither test needs the bag in your hands, which matters when you are buying online and every listing claims full grain.
Black hides scratches well and dust badly. A week of ordinary use leaves a grey film across the panels that reads as tired, and it comes off with thirty seconds and a dry cloth. Conditioner does almost nothing for this and too much of it will leave a dull bloom, so for black the rule is: dry cloth weekly, neutral conditioner once a year, and never a coloured polish.
Black is roughly a third of what leaves our Sialkot workshop, which means it is the colour our cutters have handled most and the one where our hide rejection rate matters least, because a scar shows less on a dark panel. It is also the one that comes back for repair least often, in two years of records. That is not the leather being different. It is that people buy black to use hard, and a bag being used is a bag being looked after.
Aniline dyed full grain, which means the dye goes through the hide rather than sitting on it. In daylight it reads as very dark brown, which is the giveaway. A scratch buffs back with a thumb instead of leaving the pale line you get on pigmented leather.
It picks up a grey film of dust, which wipes off with a dry cloth. The dye itself does not fade because it is not a surface layer. What does change is the sheen, which goes flatter and deeper with handling.
Black if the bag has to disappear into everything you own, particularly with a black coat and formal clothes. Charcoal if black feels heavy or if you wear a lot of navy, camel and denim. Charcoal photographs almost black indoors and clearly grey outside.
Less than any other colour we make, and the marks it does take buff out rather than showing pale underneath. What black does show is dust, which is the opposite problem and takes thirty seconds a week to solve.
The Lorne, in either size. The zip closes across the whole opening, the panels are unbroken and the only visible hardware is the zip pull and four brass feet. It puts a laptop on a boardroom table without announcing itself.
No. Coloured polish on aniline leather builds up in the grain and goes patchy, and it cannot be undone. Use a neutral conditioner, sparingly, once a year.
No, solid brass on every bag, unplated. Plated black hardware wears through to silver at the exact point your hand touches it, which is why we do not use it anywhere.
It is the most structured looking bag in the woven range. From three paces black reads as a solid panel and the basketweave only appears close up, which suits people who like the texture but not the attention.
Nothing we sell is bonded, corrected or finished with a plastic film, which is what makes a cheap bag flake at the corners.
Full grain explainedSeams that carry weight are saddle stitched by hand, so a cut thread stays put rather than running down the seam.
Inside the workshopThree letters in gold foil, silver foil or a blind press, set by hand before the bag is boxed, on every bag we make.
PersonalisationIf something is wrong, the reply comes from the workshop rather than a call centre, and the repair is done by the person who made the bag.
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