LOEWE x Suna Fujita

incredibellle · Nov 12, 2023

gohgoomah said:
i feel this so much. i'm a bit bummed about all the satin leather used, even in the SLGs and will probably only pick up the flamenco assuming it doesn't sell out before i'm able to. i agree that design wise the Suna Fujita collab has so much variety and dare i say, personality? but i'm questioning what the marquetry looks like in the pieces, i'll have to see it IRL but they definitely don't look as detailed as, say, the Totoro Ghibli collection. i do feel like they got lazier design-wise w/ each Studio Ghibli collection, specially considering the amount of hype behind each one but perhaps that's also why they were able to! bc they knew they could get away with it and we would still be throwing them our money to take lol.

@runtywendo @gohgoomah I'm new to this satin calfskin material and am considering a bag from this new collection. Can you explain what's undesirable about it? I currently have some Totoro SLGs and a puzzle hobo, I'm not sure if any of my items are satin calfskin

despair · Nov 12, 2023

Satin calfskin is very stiff and develops quite unsightly wrinkles (some are apparently immediately even in a new piece). It also shows scratches quite readily on darker colors. It does hold its shape more so that classic calfskin though - my satin leather puzzle in orange doesn’t even need a bag organizer to keep it in its shape.

runtywendo · Nov 12, 2023

incredibellle said:
@runtywendo @gohgoomah I'm new to this satin calfskin material and am considering a bag from this new collection. Can you explain what's undesirable about it? I currently have some Totoro SLGs and a puzzle hobo, I'm not sure if any of my items are satin calfskin

I have 2 bags with satin calfskin! 1 from the Chinese Monochrome (CM) and the other is the HMC Calcifer puzzle. Also have played with the some satin calfskin bags in store as well including the HMC Magical Sky one. Honestly, the satin calfskin varies slightly from bag to bag, some being softer than others or some almost feeling like a very plastic finish. Even bags of the same model but different color will feel very different and wear differently. I'll just give my impressions for each bag:

HMC Small Calcifer Puzzle (Black):
- Smoot but also very soft feel
- Moderately stiff
- Easily scratchable and very visible (easy to rub out though)
- Wrinkles very easily and the wrinkles are visible and STAY. There is no way to improve the look of it, even with leather conditioner etc. Doesn't bother me too much though b/c I have a feeling as the leather ages it might look nicer. Other people definitely were not happy about this.
- Others have experienced distinct cracking in piping, and tears to the leather in hinge areas/wear & tear areas. Seems like the leather is weaker and more delicate in general.

CM Compact Hammock (Lime Green Glaze)
- Very smooth not as soft feel, feels like there is a very light plastic coating over it
- Does not scratch easily
- Wrinkles easily but not very visible
- Moderately stiff, slightly stiffer than the HMC Calcifer Puzzle

HMC Magical Sky Hammock:
- Feels very smooth, almost like a layer of plastic covering the leather
- Very stiff
- Wrinkles easily but not visible
- Seems more scratch resistant because of plastic finish feel

Compared to classic calfskin though, this leather feels super light, airy, delicate and stiff. I think it works best for hammock bags since their structure definitely is more valued. Not for a puzzle because ik everyone wants "the slouch"

And because the leather is less dynamic, it rips more easily in hinge areas and the piping shows wear and tear immediately. It definitely feels cheaper unfortunately. Still love both my items though! In fact the CM hammock is my favorite favorite bag 😅

danidach · Nov 12, 2023

I'm still undecided on what to pick up. I'm torn between the panda cardholder, the lemur coin card holder, the lemur trifold wallet and the penguin compact wallet. I don't have any experiamence with the satin calfskin and I won't be able to go into a store. Which style of SLG and colour do you think would hold up the best? I want to be able to use what I buy.? I also really like the otter charm and panda dice charm but I don't really use bag charms. I'm drawn to the otter bauble as well but I'm not interested in the otter SLGs for some reason it's like that design works better in 3D

runtywendo · Nov 12, 2023

danidach said:
I'm still undecided on what to pick up. I'm torn between the panda cardholder, the lemur coin card holder, the lemur trifold wallet and the penguin compact wallet. I don't have any experiamence with the satin calfskin and I won't be able to go into a store. Which style of SLG and colour do you think would hold up the best? I want to be able to use what I buy.? I also really like the otter charm and panda dice charm but I don't really use bag charms. I'm drawn to the otter bauble as well but I'm not interested in the otter SLGs for some reason it's like that design works better in 3D

It's super dependent on the quality of the leather when you hold it. My light colored satin calfskin surprisingly holds up really well to scratches and wrinkles. But my black satin calfskin is the total opposite. I do also want to note that only some details on these items seem to be marquetry and a lot is printed instead. So just wanted to call that out too when you're making final decisions.

runtywendo · Nov 12, 2023

danidach said:
I'm still undecided on what to pick up. I'm torn between the panda cardholder, the lemur coin card holder, the lemur trifold wallet and the penguin compact wallet. I don't have any experiamence with the satin calfskin and I won't be able to go into a store. Which style of SLG and colour do you think would hold up the best? I want to be able to use what I buy.? I also really like the otter charm and panda dice charm but I don't really use bag charms. I'm drawn to the otter bauble as well but I'm not interested in the otter SLGs for some reason it's like that design works better in 3D

Sorry for the double post, also wanted to mention you can also consider some of the felt charms as a DIY project! That helped me with some decision making. I own a few loewe felt charms and felt it was right to buy as a Loewe item at its price point like the the HMC cow charm, but for many others I feel it may be better as a DIY project.

For example the otter charm and seal charm can definitely be a DIY project (as long as you acknowledge this is just a personal project and you're not trying to copy the artist/Loewe's work, sell it or devalue it in any way). But the lemur and hammock charms I feel are so intricate they serve better as a Loewe item. Not sure if this is against luxury ethics tbh, just a thought! Lmk if I'm wrong with that opinion.

Last comment on felt charms: the design between the felt charms can vary greatly. I bought my Owl charm about 4 times before I was finally satisfied with it. It's definitely up to preference what you'll like in the end but just know that every charm is going to look different. Attaching pic of what I mean.

cathavenicethings · Nov 12, 2023

runtywendo said:
Hot take: Some of these items are better design wise than some of the Howl's Moving Castle collection. I feel like more care was taken into the small details and they melded it better with Loewe's products.

As much as I loved the HMC collection (clearly with my post history lol), they were a bit lazy with slapping Calcifer on everything with 2 different colorways imo. Idk, anyone else agree?

I liked the HMC collection. I would have preferred if there was less of just calcifer's face on so many items and would have preferred if they included one with him eating eggshells or bacon but eh I guess it's better to be able to pick from a variety of colors than not having that as an option. Loewe really did have a lot of items in the HMC collection that were a little surprising and fun lke the rock, paper, scissors charm and Howl's cheshire tiger and the mock turtle cow items. So I think their design team did an overall great job.

The Spirited Away collection was my favorite--maybe because of the bo items and the soot sprites with the candy stars and the leather used.

i LOVE the movie Totoro but I am not crazy about the collection. I missed out on it but don't feel terrible about that. Was there even a catbus item? No? How????

This new collection has great design and super cute things. I am a sucker for cute and am having to really think about what I want and will get the most usage because there are so many great items in this collection!

vachefou · Nov 12, 2023

Not that I'm asking for a calcifer everywhere all the time in 19 colors but I wish specific panda depictions were available in more items. Hammock pandas with the one at the base of the tree? Awesome. Panda with bamboo mini? Ok, check. But the whimsy of children carrying pandas in the coin card case or the panda in the small vertical wallet are too cute to just be limited to the small SLGs.

Then again, my wallet thanks Loewe for these choices.

cathavenicethings · Nov 12, 2023

vachefou said:
Not that I'm asking for a calcifer everywhere all the time in 19 colors but I wish specific panda depictions were available in more items. Hammock pandas with the one at the base of the tree? Awesome. Panda with bamboo mini? Ok, check. But the whimsy of children carrying pandas in the coin card case or the panda in the small vertical wallet are too cute to just be limited to the small SLGs.

Then again, my wallet thanks Loewe for these choices.

I want the panda bamboo puzzle .. but in small with regular calfskin! Lol!

Mirisaa · Nov 12, 2023

Such a beautiful collection! My favorites are the panda compact hammock and the panda mini puzzle in bottle green. Unfortunately, they are both in satin calfskin which I am not sure will age nicely.

danidach · Nov 12, 2023

runtywendo said:
Sorry for the double post, also wanted to mention you can also consider some of the felt charms as a DIY project! That helped me with some decision making. I own a few loewe felt charms and felt it was right to buy as a Loewe item at its price point like the the HMC cow charm, but for many others I feel it may be better as a DIY project.

For example the otter charm and seal charm can definitely be a DIY project (as long as you acknowledge this is just a personal project and you're not trying to copy the artist/Loewe's work, sell it or devalue it in any way). But the lemur and hammock charms I feel are so intricate they serve better as a Loewe item. Not sure if this is against luxury ethics tbh, just a thought! Lmk if I'm wrong with that opinion.

Last comment on felt charms: the design between the felt charms can vary greatly. I bought my Owl charm about 4 times before I was finally satisfied with it. It's definitely up to preference what you'll like in the end but just know that every charm is going to look different. Attaching pic of what I mean.

In the descriptions it only seems to be the mandragora SLGs that mention marquetry and they have visible stitching in places. All the others just say printed motifs or motifs I'm not sure if they have any marquetry at all. Although if you zoom in on some of the motifs the grain of the leather seems different and the black parts of some of the pandas or lemurs seem to look more raised than the other colours.

I was nervous about the light colour of the penguin items and thar that would make them the most delicate but from what you have said it could the the panda items that are most delicate because the green is the darkest colour. I'm thinking in terms of SLGs it might be better to go for something flat like a card holder or coin card holder rather than a folding wallet which could wrinkle or crack more easily.

I'm not particularly crafty so I can't see me making a felt charm that resembles any kind of animal but if you were you could make a seal or otter. Or you can probably find a lot of cute animal felt charms on etsy rhat would have a similar effect. I think if I was going to get a charm it might be a ceramic one I'm surprised there aren't more ceramics given who they are collaborating with.

I see what you mean about the charms each one is quite different. I'm not sure if the department store closest to me would get any of these pieces in for me to pick the item that looks/feels the nicest and by the time I get a chance to check everything is likely to be sold out

runtywendo · Nov 12, 2023

danidach said:
In the descriptions it only seems to be the mandragora SLGs that mention marquetry and they have visible stitching in places. All the others just say printed motifs or motifs I'm not sure if they have any marquetry at all. Although if you zoom in on some of the motifs the grain of the leather seems different and the black parts of some of the pandas or lemurs seem to look more raised than the other colours.

I was nervous about the light colour of the penguin items and thar that would make them the most delicate but from what you have said it could the the panda items that are most delicate because the green is the darkest colour. I'm thinking in terms of SLGs it might be better to go for something flat like a card holder or coin card holder rather than a folding wallet which could wrinkle or crack more easily.

I'm not particularly crafty so I can't see me making a felt charm that resembles any kind of animal but if you were you could make a seal or otter. Or you can probably find a lot of cute animal felt charms on etsy rhat would have a similar effect. I think if I was going to get a charm it might be a ceramic one I'm surprised there aren't more ceramics given who they are collaborating with.

I see what you mean about the charms each one is quite different. I'm not sure if the department store closest to me would get any of these pieces in for me to pick the item that looks/feels the nicest and by the time I get a chance to check everything is likely to be sold out

You could always put an order for things on your wishlist then return the items you're not satisfied with! There are not going to be purchase limits nor a final sale policy for this collection so order to your heart's content. Might be my approach tbh since it's so hard to decide without the items in front of you.