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| Womens Bags: Loewe, Liberty, Vincent Du Sartel |
Written by David Pedroza, Editor in Chief
Art Direction by Wilson McCord
Sit-in-Editor, Wilson McCord
Photos Courtesy of Atelier du Sartel
The soul of a luxury house is in
its designers and craftsmen. Most major
luxury companies depend on the out-sourcing of the development and
manufacturing of certain goods that require special attention by an atelier
that specializes in a specific trade. Atelier
du Sartel is one atleier that has mastered the design and know-how in leather accessories, hardware, and lifestyle items such as desk
accessories and furniture.
Vincent
du Sartel has dedicated his life to developing new technique advances to create
the modernization in the way leather goods are made, while retaining the style
and requirements of the times we live in. Mr. du Sartel is a craftsman himself,
havening been trained to build cabinets by hand, opened his eyes to the
integrity of great workmanship and quality, thus having the desire to create
the best luxury items he can make.
Wilson
McCord, our Sit-in-Editor, made the introduction, and told me about Atelier du
Sartel, which took my interest. We met with Mr. du Sartel, at his Paris
Atelier, located in a most obscured, private, residential neighborhood. A fitting location for him and his team to devote
their time in cultivating ideas to create designs for luxury houses such as
Zilli, Ferragamo, Bulgari, Zenga, Ferrari, and other companies known for their
reputations in fine luxury.
Vincent du Sartel and his associates concentrate on accessories in leather, to create modern yet timeless
pieces, while using traditional and modern techniques of workmanship to create
quality leather goods. He earned his degree at the Versailles Academy of Fine
arts, before attending Saint Luc cabinet making school, where he restored 18th
cabinets that required skilled hands and attention to the smallest details. The
highest standards of craftsmanship then became important to Vincent du Sartel,
thus leading him to search for new ventures in luxury design.
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| Luxury Travel Luggage: Atelier Du Sartel |
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| Cartier: Luxury and Parfume Packaging |
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| Center: Vincent Du Sartel, Creative Director and Owner and Atelier Creative Heads: Sergio and Jana; Clockwise:
Louis Vuitton Ring, Ermenegildo Zegna Mens Belt, Louis Vuitton RIng,
Ermenegildo Zegna Mens Belt, Sol Womens Shoe Project, Womens Embossed Liberty Bag,
Leather Craftsman Working, Davidorf Luxury Briefcase, Louis Vuitton Tableware Luxury Coffret,
Thread Spools, Atelier Du Sartel Workshop, Cartier Luxury Funiture Prototype,
Loewe Womens Luxury Eyewear.
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In 1986, Vincent du Sartel came
into Louis Vuitton, and started a 13 year relationship that would alter the
future of the house. Although the house
was established and well known at the time, Mr. du Sartel worked hard to create
an image for the brand, the essence of Vuitton, which
would continue to this day. His focus
was to develop leather goods, and make improvements on the Louis Vuitton Trunk,
a house classic. During his time at Vuitton he grew the small accessories
studio from two persons to over 40 in 13 years, including the 6 years that he
served as Creative Director of LV accessories.
He
studied the craft of leather making at the house, to understand the process
used to manipulate leather. This
fascinated him, since he could relate trunk manufacturing to the manufacturing
of furniture, both using brass hardware and wood as its foundations. The Vegetable-tanned
leather used as the trim on the trunks was
created with a process in which cow hide is layered with alternating pieces of
wood, that is compressed with pressure and
tanned underground, creating extremely durable leather. These techniques and craftsmanship had taken
Mr. du Sartel into pushing forward the design innovation and craftsmanship of
luxury leather accessories, which lead him to join the Luxury Spanish house of
Loewe, in 2000.
At
Loewe, Vincent du Sartel worked with the house, concentrating on ready-to-wear
and accessories made out of leather and exotic skins. The houses strong
heritage and prestige in leather, was the DNA for Mr. Sartel, who worked on
designs that would remain timeless, while evoking the modern styles of our
times. Each pieces was created in the best leather and exotic skins, and either
manipulated to create new forms and textures or dyed in saturated, bright,
colors. All care went to the tanning and assembling of Loewe’s leather
garments and bags.
Atelier
du Sartel opened in 2003 launching his own name sake line of handbags and
accessories, along with consulting luxury brands in accessory development. His conviction for what he designs must remain
intimate to the identity of a brand set him apart from other designers. Luxury
houses seek him out to take over accessory development, which also involves the
sourcing of materials and the process used to make each item. Atelier du Sartel has become responsible for
consulting leading jewelry houses such as Cartier and Bulgari, helping them
develop accessories, such as Cartier’s exclusive, leather box set, featuring
made-to-order perfumes. This unique
edition required special attention in creating a box that was refined, well
crafted, and tied in the houses identity. The refined and well-crafted box created an
elevated level of packaging for Cartier fragrances, and became a coveted item.
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| Mens Luxury Briefcases, Davidorf - Very Zino Collection |
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| Mens Shoes, Loewe (Advertising); Loewe Shoe Designs |
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| Mens Accessories, Ermenegildo Zegna Cat Walk Show; Womens Luxury Evening Bag, Liberty;
Luxury Home Designs (Porcelain), Cartier; Womens Luxury Purse, Louis Vuitton
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Clients
like Ermenegildo Zegna request hard-ware designs from Atelier d Sartel, which
includes materials such as aluminum and other metals to create items such as
belt buckles, snaps, and rings that will be used as closures. These small, yet important, luxury elements
are carefully designed to maintain a classic aesthetic, while infusing modern
design and technique. The atelier not
only designs, but finds solutions for making certain metals, like making aluminum,
light and durable, and keeping a high standard of quality. These developments
led to creating watches for luxury Timepiece manufactures and working on
Kyocera ceramics, a very hard, durable ceramic that has the properties of
metal, but the lightness of ceramics, and can be manipulated into more complex
forms. Atelier du Sartel is creating watches, and working with these types of
materials to create elegant and high end time pieces, with a more tech
aesthetic, and bringing a modern lightness to the luxury Watch industry.
Most
recently, Vincent du Sartel and his team, has been working with Bentley, the renowned
luxury car manufacture, to create an exclusive line of Bentley accessories and
outerwear, in leather. Mr. du Sartel is
working closely with the best tanners and leather suppliers, to use the skins
at their highest potentials in creating beautifully crafted modern designs. He is creating leather goods with less seams,
by molding leathers to create accessories with a cleaner, stream-line look. The Bentley line will appeal to car’s customer
base, as well to luxury enthusiasts. Atelier
du Sartel, has become the go-to firm for luxury companies, who seek the
know-how of experienced designers to create leather goods, shoes, jewelry,
furniture, and desk accessories, such as envelope knives. Having the privilege of knowing who creates
these extraordinarily well crafted accessories, and that they have devoted
their life’s work and time to create these beautiful pieces, brings a much
greater worth to the luxury goods, designed by Atelier du Sartel.
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| Travel Bag: Ermenegildo Zegna - Vintage Collection |