november-2012

lustrous, purple-blue lizard. Many of the leathers come
from animals farmed for their meat; others, like the cobra,
are available only in restricted quantities each season. There
are fish skins, too: an iridescent, unexpectedly lovely salmon
skin and a section of paper-thin ray skin, patterned with
tiny, gleaming circles.
Once a skin has been selected, the process can begin. First,
the coupeur will check the leather over and choose where to
cut the pattern parts, envisaging how the grain and colour
will match up when the bag is put together. The parts are
then cut out and the leather thinned and refined, ready to
be assembled and stitched together by a three-strong team
of craftsmen. It’s a painstaking process, particularly when
it comes to a bag like the ‘Brilliant’: made from 64 individual
pieces of leather, it is assembled inside out (passepoil) to
hide the stitching, then lined in butter-soft leather.
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Clockwise from top left: Patricio Sandoval, an expert in exotic skins, polishes a
section of alligator skin – a delicate material to work with, but also his favourite;
ostrich-skin pattern parts for the ‘Brilliant’ bag, each one cut by hand; exotic leathers,
like this cobra, are available only in restricted quantities each season; a roll of toile
de cuir, intricately woven from different leathers and made exclusively for Delvaux
“They say a Delvaux bag is as beautiful inside as out,
and it’s true,” says designer Julie De Taeye, picking up her
own handbag – a capacious ‘Brilliant Grand Modèle’ – to
demonstrate. “It’s all about the stitching and finish, like using
the fer à filet to burn a line between the stitching and the
edge of the leather. Even if we could make the bag €300
cheaper by omitting a single step, we wouldn’t do it. There
are no concessions on how the bags are made, and never will
be – it’s the foundation on which the entire company rests.”
At the next workstation, Mohammed Benelcaïd is putting
the finishing touches to a bag, carefully gluing a piece in
place. He started work here in 1973, “knowing nothing”; now
he is one of the master craftsmen. As such, he will check
that the finish is perfect before stamping his seal on the
carte d’authenticité that accompanies every bag. “People
often keep the carte,” he says. “Once, when a lady brought
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