THE VALUE OF SIMPLE DESIGNby S. Charlie WeymanMaking fine leather goods is like parenting a toddler

THE VALUE OF SIMPLE DESIGNby S. Charlie WeymanMaking fine leather goods is like parenting a toddler – it’s difficult, dirty work and you don’t know if you’ve succeeded until years later. Even after decades of working with leather, Frank Clegg admits he’s still learning. “You always think you’re doing something well, but it’s not until you see a bag five, ten, fifteen years down the line will you know whether something was done right.” Frank has forty-five years of experience both building and repairing leather bags, which means he’s had a lot of time to refine his process.Frank’s work started in 1969, when his then-girlfriend (now wife) gave him some leatherworking tools for Christmas. Like most leatherworkers, he started with small, simple objects – basic belts, wallets, and key cases – but it wasn’t long before moved to bags and briefcases. “I found I had a real knack for pattern design and construction, so it quickly turned into a business. Back then, we used to sell at craft shows. I guess they call them pop-ups now, but it’s all the same thing.” His earliest models, going back to the 1970s, included simple, handsome designs that have been pared down to just their essential details. Models like the Captain’s, Birmingham, and English briefs. Frank calls these his “pure state bags.”  In the 1980s, however, men wanted something different. “Every market goes through its trends,” Frank says. “Back then, bags with metal frames were popular, so we made those. The problem was, five years down the line, those bags would come back to us with the frames poking through the leather. So we switched to polypropylene frames, but then those broke.” Meanwhile, Frank noticed that all of his pure state bags from the 1970s were holding up beautifully, so he went back to what he knew worked: simple designs made from quality materials that naturally go together. That means handles made from pure leather, rather than a mixture of leather and cardboard stiffeners, or zip-top briefcases that are reinforced with belting leather, rather than metal strips. “Over the years, I’ve found that the less you put into a bag – not in terms of work, but in terms of unnecessary complications – the better.”That simple design philosophy also runs through Frank’s business model. While many companies – even “heritage brands” – have shipped their production overseas, Frank has kept production in his hometown Fall River, Massachusetts, where he makes bags with the help of his eight-person staff. “We stick to what we know, but it’s always a learning process as you go – even after forty-five years of doing this stuff.”Quality content, like quality clothing, ages well. This article first appeared on the No Man blog in September 2015. -- source link

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