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A work tote has to survive being put on the floor of a train, opened one handed on a desk and carried over a coat, and most totes sold as work bags fail at least one of those. The bags on this page are the ones we built for it.
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Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote Bags
Brown Leather Tote Bags
Brown Leather Tote Bags
Brown Leather Tote Bags
Brown Leather Tote Bags
Large Leather Tote Bags
Leather Laptop Totes
Black Leather Tote Bags
Black Leather Tote BagsFour things, and we would not call it a work tote without all four. A closure that actually closes, which here means a two way brass zip running the full width. A padded wall for the laptop rather than a loose compartment, so the machine sits against your back instead of swinging. A base that stays square under weight. And feet, so the bottom of the bag is not the part that touches wet ground.
The Lorne is the design built for this in large at 41cm and medium at 36cm. If you do not want a zip, the large Marlow takes the same 16 inch laptop in an open top body and is the choice for people who are in and out of the bag constantly. Both appear on the laptop totes page with the fit measurements side by side.
A zip, a padded wall and feet add roughly 200 grams over an open top tote of the same size. The large Lorne is 1.3kg empty. If your commute is long and on foot, the waxed canvas Ellis does the same job at 0.95kg, without the zip.
Stitching and hardware are covered for as long as you own the bag, which on a work bag matters more than on anything else, because a work bag is opened and closed a few thousand times a year. Send it back and we repair it.
| Requirement | Why it matters | Lorne, large | Lorne, medium | Marlow, large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closes fully | Nothing tips out on a train or under a desk | Two way brass zip | Two way brass zip | Magnetic tab only |
| Padded laptop wall | The machine sits against your back, not swinging | Yes, full height | Yes, full height | No, lies flat |
| Base stays square | Weight on one wall is what bows a tote | Reinforced panel | Reinforced panel | Reinforced panel |
| Feet | The bag spends its life on floors | Four brass | Four brass | None |
| Opening | A 16 inch laptop needs 40cm | 41cm | 36cm | 40cm |
| Weight empty | You carry this before anything goes in | 1.3kg | 1.05kg | 1.1kg |
| Price | $225 | $199 | $209 |
A work bag is opened and closed a few thousand times a year, which is more cycles than any other component sees. We use solid brass, two way, running the full width of the opening, with the tape dyed to match the leather rather than contrasted. Two way matters more than it sounds: you can open from either end, or leave a gap in the middle for a charging cable without opening the whole bag in public.
We do not use plated zinc anywhere. Plating wears through to grey at exactly the point your fingers touch, usually inside eighteen months, and there is no repair for it. Brass dulls instead, which is a different thing entirely. The zip is covered for as long as you own the bag, and we repair rather than replace it.
Weight concentrated along one wall is what pulls a tote out of shape, and it is why cheap laptop bags sag at the top corners within a year. Two things fix it, and both are structural rather than cosmetic: a base cut as its own reinforced panel so the load sits flat, and handles stitched through the body panel and riveted rather than attached to a glued tab. If you are comparing us against another bag, those are the two things to look for, and neither shows in a product photograph.
Work totes are what we have had back most often for a look rather than a repair, because people who commute notice things. The pattern so far: zips are fine, feet scuff and that is what they are there for, and the wear that shows first is on the handle roots of bags that get hung on a hook rather than set down. Store it standing up. That one habit is worth more than any conditioner.
Four things, and we will not use the name without all of them: a closure that actually closes, a padded laptop wall rather than a loose compartment, a base that stays square under weight, and feet so the bottom of the bag is not what touches wet ground.
The Lorne is the most formal bag we make. Unbroken panels, a matched zip tape, no visible branding and only the zip pull and four brass feet as hardware. In black or charcoal it reads as a briefcase that happens to be a tote.
In the large Lorne, yes: 41cm across with the laptop held in the sleeve against the back wall, which leaves the whole body free. In the medium at 36cm it is a laptop and not much else.
Yes, for as long as you own the bag, and we repair it rather than replacing the bag. That is also why it is solid brass rather than plated zinc, which wears through to grey at the point you touch most and cannot be repaired.
Canvas, if you walk. The large Lorne is 1.3kg empty and the waxed canvas Ellis is 0.95kg for a bigger opening, which is a third of a kilo you carry every day. The trade is that the Ellis has no zip and no padded wall.
They can mark a soft polished surface, which is what feet on any bag do. They exist so that the base leather is not what sits in a puddle on a station platform, and that is the trade we would make every time.
Take the machine out when you get home rather than leaving it loaded overnight, and stand the bag up rather than hanging it. The reinforced base and the stitched through handles do the rest.
The large Marlow. Same 16 inch capacity and the same reinforced base, open top with a magnetic tab, $16 less. It suits people who are in and out of the bag constantly and find a zip slows them down.
Three 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.
Talk to usNothing 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 workshop