I don't know of any. Vintage Coach was made of entire thickness of leather. The inside of the bag was the backside of the leather. Now they take the leather and split it into several layers and process them so they look like the top piece. They can put any texture on it that they want. Then because the layers are so thin, they glue them to some kind of backing. They put on edge coating so you can't see the layers. Vintage Coach didn't use edge coating. They didn't need it.
*** warning. rant coming. Lol! **
I’d just like a manufacturer to make a stellar product and charge a fair price. I would pay very good money to have old Coach quality (or even much better!) in new styles - no questions asked, full price paid. I remember being a broke college student and craving Coach bags because of what they “stood for”.
I get the corporate move to save costs. But, for those of us who who want great quality, deliver and we will pay!
I consistently hear of how wonderful Hermes leather and craftsmanship is. But
[insert widely appropriate but not universal stereotype here] the prices are Uber high for what you get, I refuse to “pledge” to buy a bag by purchasing stuff I’m just ok with and then taking what I’m “offered” and most importantly, the aesthetic isn’t for me. Which is fine. I love diversity of approach. My way isn’t the gold standard. But, there should be a range of brands at various price points who do truly quality work - with lifetime “bumper to bumper” warranties like Coach used to offer.
On tPF people get excited because they like a bag/brand and, as an effect not a cause, scream “high quality”.
Polene is a brand that comes to mind but it’s not alone. I could (and often do) add in one of my faves, Chanel, in the “quality isn’t what we should expect for the price” bucket. But, name the brand and a legion of people will say it’s a high quality brand. But, do they know what quality means???? It seems what they are saying is “I got a great bag at a good price that seems worth it”. That does NOT equal quality. A high quality bag has exceptional leathers, nearly infallible hardware, painstakingly careful construction and meaningful design.
Is that era no more? Like the beautiful architecture of 500 or more years ago? You can’t get that in a building today without paying a truly exorbitant price to specialized and almost extinct craftsmen (people). If so, let’s call it. My latest bag - YSL camera - is super pretty and functional. But, it’s quality is just good enough. Can we be brave enough to say we just like the pretty sparkly thing and not try to justify the stupid price we paid for it?
So, I gotta be honest. (Cause I’m a bored as heck Sagittarius and that’s our jam! LOL!) I look at every recently produced bag I see and own sideways when it comes to “quality”. Yep, I said it.
I’ve taken the blue pill a la Matrix and chat on tPB about amazing new bags because they are super cute. But, with a few rare exceptions, I still miss unequivocal, unabashed, mind blowing quality of eras gone by.
I’ve thought about doing a 2 week immersion class next year. I’d hope to be at a level that would make that a good investment of time by then.
