Atelier du Sartel

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 18^th 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.

Luxury Travel Luggage:  Atelier Du Sartel

Cartier:  Luxury and Parfume Packaging

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.

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.

Mens Luxury Briefcases, Davidorf - Very Zino Collection

Mens Shoes,  Loewe (Advertising);  Loewe Shoe Designs

Mens Accessories, Ermenegildo Zegna Cat Walk Show;  Womens Luxury Evening Bag, Liberty;

Luxury Home Designs (Porcelain),  Cartier; Womens Luxury Purse, Louis Vuitton

 

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.

Travel Bag:  Ermenegildo Zegna - Vintage Collection