Structured ladies' handbag, champagne

Morning, noon, night: this small handbag made from supple sheepskin also covers the wide field that we like to call "for every occasion". While you can store the essentials in it, secured by a zipper, the two detachable carrying straps braided into a leather cord - one short, the other long - offer you a variety of ways to carry the handbag: slung in your hand or the crook of your arm, as a crossbody shoulder bag or, if you remove both straps, as a typical clutch. The interior, lined with a durable twill fabric made from organic cotton, also has a leather-lined zipped compartment and a sewn-on slip pocket for small(est) items such as keys, lipstick and USB stick for immediate access.

So far, so classic. The most striking feature of the handbag, however, is the hand-crafted technique used to interweave the cleverly cut sheepskin: It creates an opulently textured surface that resembles a loop weave and not only gives the handbag a multi-layered feel - the bag fully displays its extravagance when the overlapping leather loops create their own shadow plays, in the light of the sun or the office, bar or club.

Belgian label Allan K is considered a specialist in bags and shoes made of hand-braided leather. Founder Alain Kadic sums up the passion for his company and the products in one sentence: "Braided leather is in my DNA." No wonder, since the company's genesis dates back to the 1960s, when his father Ivan Kadic, an engineer with an inventive spirit, developed a spiral cutter capable of cutting a narrow strip hundreds of feet long from a leather hide. Many of his inventions, including an automatic leather weaving machine, soon find their way around the world.

In the 1980s, Alain Kadic, now an engineer himself, followed in his father's footsteps and traced the machines to India. Here, the craft of leather weaving has a long tradition. After working with various leather weaving companies for several years, he finally founded the Allan K brand in 2012 and from then on had his designs manufactured in Madras. The timeless-classic shoes and bags made of woven and braided leather are handmade there, which can take up to five days depending on the model. The leather for them is still cut on the machines that his father developed at the time.