Behind the Scenes: The Making of an Alexandra de Curtis Bag

STEP 3: MAKING THE PROTOTYPE 

If we're making a completely new style, we’ll start by making a fabric prototype of the bag and stitch it together, otherwise we cut it immediately with the leather I’ve chosen to see if the shape works. This is a crucial step because this is when you see whether the leather will hold the shape or not, so I tend to go straight into cutting the leather sample. 

Once everything looks good, (minor changes always happen at this stage), we cut the pattern onto the leather and my team gets to work on the different sections of the bag. Below you can see the handle of the Loren Tote in progress: a rubber tube is placed between two pieces of leather and each end of the handle is reinforced by gluing sections of leather back to back before the leather is sewn together with a sewing machine. Once all the pieces of the bag are cut and glued, the accessories such as zips or studs are attached, and all the pieces are sewn together - it’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle!

Italy is known for its quality leather and exceptional craftsmanship, but as cheaper
factories abroad have caused many fashion brands to move their production to
other countries, Italian leather artisans are quickly disappearing.

That's why my chief goal is to do my bit to keep this ancient craft alive by keeping my production in Italy, which at the same time, enables me to bring you high quality products and a little piece of my beautiful country to take home with you.