The story of how BAGS & PIECES came about
The passion for high-quality leather accessories
Fashion and luxury handbags have fascinated me since I was a teenager. During my school days, I admired the latest bags from luxury labels in magazines and shop windows and knew that I wanted to have one of those at some point.
At the same time, I've always been a bit of a penny pincher - 3,000 euros for a handbag is a lot. During school and university, such a purchase was unthinkable, but afterwards I said to myself: When I get my first full-time job, I'll put some money aside every month for a year and then treat myself to my dream bag.
After that year, it was not the absolute luxury model, but a bag for 400 euros - I just couldn't bring myself to give up a three-week holiday in Australia for it!
I still like and use my bag today. But despite all my love for my beautiful bag, what struck me right from the start was that it basically consists of "only" four different pieces - so it's not particularly complex. Since I've always loved sewing and drawing, I thought to myself: "Maybe I can do that too!"
… and then the journey began!
I learned about leather crafts, sewing, cutting, gluing and edge finishing. I ordered tools, bought leather, looked for metal details and tried things out. Eternal hours and many YouTube tutorials later, I was holding a finished handbag in my hands. Far from perfect, but: a homemade leather handbag.
What I particularly noticed during this time: Information to expand your own knowledge is rare. In addition, you can hardly find any instructions for beautiful leather bags. The pieces that you can make with the tutorials that are available are not very feminine and have little in common with the designs of great luxury brands.
Like all crafts, traditional leather craftsmanship is not something that just anyone can do, and for good reason. For a short time, I even considered training. In my adopted home of Munich and the surrounding area, however, there hasn't been a single company in the last three years that has trained fine leather makers. This fact surprised me so much and I thought it was such a shame that such an admirable profession is almost dying out! I wanted to do my part to ensure that this type of handcraft is more appreciated again and that everyone, whether they are DIY-savvy or not, can dare to tackle such a subject.
The idea for BAGS & PIECES was born
My goal with the DIY boxes: to introduce interested people to leather craftsmanship in such a way that no huge investment in tools and materials is necessary, and the implementation is simple and fun.
In my opinion, the result should always be a sense of achievement and a high-quality finish. Homemade is fabulous - but if the bag looks too much like a DIY, it is not a fashion statement.
After the idea, it took almost a year to get to the prototype of the DIY boxes from BAGS & PIECES, including many setbacks, various rescheduling and several trade fair and supplier visits in Italy.
My biggest challenges were gathering the necessary materials in small quantities for a handbag, finding affordable tools and preparing the leather so that no machines were needed at home to complete the process.
The accessories
When it comes to leather accessories from BAGS & PIECES, I place a lot of value on design that is timeless and stylish at the same time. If you invest your heart and soul and time, I think you should end up with something that won't be out of fashion after one season. In other words, an accessory that you can use with pride for many years.
In addition to the appearance, the workmanship and durability play an important role. Our DIY boxes contain everything you need to make your own leather accessories - materials, tools and step-by-step instructions.
At the end, you will hold a stylish, unique piece in your hands that you can confidently say: “ I made that myself.”
I hope you enjoy the boxes as much as I do – and I wish you lots of fun getting creative and then wearing your BAGS & PIECES leather accessories!
If you want, you can share your personal, unique item with me on Instagram and link it with #bagsandpieces . I'm as happy about every post as a little kid on his birthday - and I don't think that will ever change.
