Women's shoulder bag, braided, multicolor

This women's shoulder bag is woven in one piece - from supple, soft, non-slip sheepskin that comes in a blaze of color. It can take up to five days to create such a feast for the eyes from the narrow leather straps, as all the work steps are carried out by hand. The handles are just as elaborately crafted: They are specially round-braided so that they sit comfortably in the hand or on the shoulder.

Another practical feature is that the shoulder bag is not lined, but has a removable cotton bag instead. This has two slip pockets and a zipped compartment. It is closed with a zipper that is neatly edged with leather. This means that the two bags can also be used separately.

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.