by Charlotte Husson October 20, 2021

Serge 🇫🇷

The idea of creating a handbag had been wandering around in the meanders of my brain for a long time. Classified for convenience by fashion gazettes, among the "accessories", in the same rank as belts, scarves, sunglasses ...

The handbag is, however, so much more than a supplement.

It is our toolbox of first necessity (imperative combing or cosmetic touch-up), an extension of our hypoxic brains (smartphone, diary), a safe of our beating hearts (love notes, lucky charms, the childish poem or the fragment of the noodle necklace dated Mother's Day) ... and it swings with its false candor slung over our shoulder to beautify us ... in short, a handbag lives by our side, it is beautiful and indispensable, so it must be treated seriously.

I almost did the drawing in one go, because the outlines and functions of our bag are deliberately simple, and also because I was especially motivated! Against all expectations, this simplicity inspired me, while the eraser and the repentance are the companions who most often push me to my limits on the drawing board. What I wrote when introducing you to Alain, the manufacturer of our Perfecto , applies here, word for word and it is not by chance. The most unbridled creators, or more simply the most inventive, would remain in dry dock if a myriad of manufacturers and artisans in search of the right gesture did not come to give shape to this indecisive moment that we call inspiration. Through Virginie, who founded Adapta [bonjour@bar-da.com], a real radar for detecting and buying the best leathers from dormant stocks, we are on our way to the beautiful province of Anjou and the city of Cholet.

There is a village near Cholet where the company Audouin & Fils exercises its exceptional expertise in leather goods and leather covering.

Marcel, the father, founded the company in 1947. His first creation was a shopping bag made of strips of recycled leather. Well, well! A pioneer of zero waste. Here I am in close quarters. The company prospered to the point of becoming a manufacturer of Courrège and Longchamp bags until the retirement of the founder, a man of duty and an honest craftsman.
As my beloved grandmother would have said: "the apple never falls far from the apple tree". After her retirement in 1990, Laurent, her son, took up the torch with the same passion for excellent work.

Audouin & Fils has developed and diversified in a judicious and remarkable way. The company can pride itself on supplying luxury car manufacturers (Rolls Royce, Bentley, BMW), yachts, prestigious hotels and, more than ever, fine leather goods. All these customers are more than customers, they are partners in sectors of excellence that perpetuate an uncompromising concept of "beautiful work".

You only have to visit the workshops to feel that everyone at their workstation is driven by a passion for the right gesture.

It is the same feeling that I feel with Alain or with Mr. Stanislaw. The values that we defend begin with the dignity and passion of the first worker who receives our drawing to bring it to life.

Our bags will be made by Laurent Audouin and his teams, just a stone's throw from Paris, in scrupulous compliance with ethical and eco-responsible standards concerning our leathers, their origin and their treatment. As was the case for our Perfecto Irving, our skins come from the dormant stock of a major French House, with world-renowned know-how. "Making something beautiful, doing good, doing it well", you know that.

Our first bag was called Serge. Your mischievous and sharp minds, who have just answered the quiz above, could see an allusion to Jane Birkin, whose Pygmalion was named Serge. However, Serge is certainly a reference to Serge Prokofiev, the unforgettable composer of Peter and the Wolf. On this gloomy Christmas, we so needed to rediscover our inner child. With the cunning and complicity of his friend the Bird, Little Peter will use kindness - and overcome his fear - to prevent "his" wolf from ending up under the gunfire of the hunters. Today, we present to you his little brother Sergio, in a magnificent tricolor version 100% leather: smooth leather, embossed crocodile and leopard leather!

"Love imposes itself on all ages, but it is good in its fury, like the storm in the meadows of May, only to young souls of candor. Its sudden rains refresh them, renew them, ripen them. And powerful life produces sweet flowers, rich fruits."

Serge is for sale here

Take care of yourself, always.