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Galleries // 2012 Spark:Product // Gretchen - Tango Pouch

Gretchen - Tango Pouch

Winner - Bronze

Competition: Spark:Product
Designer: Mrs. Anne-Christin Schmitt
Design Type: Handbag
Website: http://www.mygretchen.com

Innovative aesthetics We stand for leather accessories with a distinctly modern design language. Our designs are all about the precision of the shape and the beauty of the materials. True to the leitmotiv “less is more” our accessories incorporate a holistic and maturely accomplished concept. Subtle, elaborate elements enrich the minimalist creations and make each bag recognizable, unique and a true masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship. Profiling structures underneath the leather create a rich, three-dimensional texture. The high-quality Italian calf leather deliberately plays with light and shadow effects, making each bag look vivid. The production of the 2 colorful main collections per year solely takes place in Italy and Germany. Beauty is all about the design? No. Beauty is about the material in equal measure! The optic attracts the eye and catches our attention, but it is the touch that pleases our hands and convinces us that we never want to let go again. The creative mind behind the modernist German accessory label grew up surrounded by leather goods of the family manufactory. The intuitive understanding of design and a lifetime of experience with fine leathers reflect in thoughtfully unconventional creations. Inspired by sculptural aesthetics and the architecture of nature, her handwriting is marked by feminine straightness and modern, avant-garde angles in distinguished shapes. With her background you can expect nothing but the finest Italian leathers to be crafted into bags. Our glazed Italian calf leathers are marked by a naturally elegant shine. Fine little cracks break up the smooth surface, giving the leather a uniquely sanguine look and adding deepness and intensity to the colors. Perfectly color-matched we combine the glazed with our waxed Italian calf leather. Incredibly soft and natural in touch, its slightly matte finish creates a deliberate contrast to the shine of the glazed leather. In a nutshell, every creation is a true statement-piece that spices up every wardrobe. This is recognizable in the characteristic Tango Pouch, which is our modern interpretation of the timelessly elegant 20’s evening wristlet bag. It can be worn either hand-held or dangling freely down from the wrist, allowing the wearer to have both hands free. The quality of a handbag is decided by its craftsmanship. Piece by piece strings of profiles are cut to measure and applied onto a support material. Then the leather itself is placed on top of this ‘base structure’ and fixed. With a blunt knife, the so-called ‘folding leg’, the bag-maker follows the line of each single profile by hand, thus uniting structure and leather and making the profiles “surge” to the surface. Eccentrically shaped, this sleek little piece of savvy and thought-through design is a one-of-a-kind statement bag that expertly combines usability and timeless, yet modern aesthetics.