Handcrafted in Spain

Amidst the spectacular Serrania de Ronda mountains of the southern Cadiz province of Spain lies the beautiful and unassumingly important town of Ubrique. For more than a century Ubrique has been quietly operating a leather crafting industry that supplies labels such as Loewe, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci. During the coronavirus pandemic of 2019, we came across a prominent outfit that was struggling for work as most of their orders relied upon large name-brands in the high luxury space. Though we already had a firm footing and relationship with another respected production house in Ubrique with whom we do most of our collection - we decided to help our new friends. Furthermore, the pandemic introduced supply chain constraints and capacity constraints which meant the other facilities we work with were already struggling enough to keep up with executing even a little work so in an act of community, they introduced us to yet another, family-owned and operated business in Ubrique. Expert craftsmen in their own right, their pieces, and specialty differ somewhat from the ones made by the other two family-run outfits we work with in Ubrique, however, they remain part of the Archibald family and have taught us a lot of trade secrets employed by larger high-luxury houses.

Visit the workshop in Ubrique, Spain

##A specially sourced. supple Italian calf-skin was imported into Spain for this particular piece. This might sound like an odd choice given most of our collection of small leather goods features the finest, first-pick Spanish calf leather. However during mid and late 2020 when the whole world was fighting the Coronavirus pandemic, many of the best Spanish tanneries were observing full lockdowns and were unable to deliver the product as intended. With this in mind, A $3,000 Men’s Scarf for $575? A New Kind of Bargain by S. Christian (03/05/2017), The Wall Street Journal.

##The kind of slow and precise artisanship found in Ubrique is dying out and is increasingly hard to find. Although technology has been embraced by some of the craftsmen, most have rejected it and carry on in the revered, time-honoured way that has been passed down from generation to generation. The established luxury industry has long strived to keep the work and proud heritage of Ubrique to itself, but now you can discover it too.