Navy on Top, Red Below, Orange Inside
The m21: a mini case that behaves like a full-size briefcase, with two colors that keep switching places
I call these my mini cases. They’re made to resemble my full-size briefcases, shrunk down to a crossbody bag, and the m21 is the one I made in navy and red.
Video: “Marcellino NY New 2024 Mini Case Style m21,” Marcellino NY Briefcase Maker on YouTube, December 2023.
Two colors trading places
The flap is navy bridle leather, so dark it passes for black indoors. The body below it is red. The stitching does the trading: on the red panels the thread is blue, and on the navy panels it’s red. Look at the edge of the flap and you see red thread on navy. Look at the body and you see blue thread on red. Each color borrows the other one’s seam.
I made two of these in different colors on purpose, one lined in orange and one in red, to see how colors behave next to different locks and leathers. I said in the video that the multicolor ones look great, and that most of what I’d actually make for a customer would be a single color. I’m still sorting out how to offer them.
Orange inside
The lining is orange suede, Italian calf. Open the case and the orange glows against the red. The case has two compartments of 2 inches each, 10 inches wide and 7 high. For custom orders I put pockets on the middle divider, sized for the phone or whatever the customer carries, and I can add a slip pocket on the back.
The rings
I put the side rings one on the front gusset and one on the back. If both rings sit on the back, the bag pivots when it hangs from your shoulder. Split between front and side, it hangs more steadily. That’s how I set up all my new styles now. A small decision, and it’s the sort that makes a bag sit properly.
The back is clean. The corners are square. The flap is square. I like a case with no unnecessary shapes.
The lock
The lock is Italian, from the same maker as the combination locks I use on my briefcases, just in a key style. You push the button to open it. Lock it, and it won’t go down. The key hangs from a red leather holder I stitched by hand. In the video I’m wearing gloves because I didn’t want fingerprints on the leather, which is the kind of thing I’d tell you at the bench.
Thick leather, thick thread
The strap is UK English bridle in navy with red stitching, lined in the orange suede. The case is thick English bridle leather. It’s not as light as a bag built on cardboard, and it isn’t heavy either, and I accept that trade. The reason is patina. A bag with cardboard behind a thin skin can’t breathe, and I’ve made bags like that in the past, for mass production. A thick-leather case holds its own shape and ages properly.
That thickness also decides how it’s sewn. This stitching is by hand because thick thread through thick leather is hard for a machine to do, especially around corners. These were samples, which is why they’re hand stitched. A factory-made version would be semi-produced, not hand sewn.
Still for sale
The case in the photographs is the case I’m selling, and the listing is live. The button at the top leads to it. If you’d like something in other colors, tell me through the Bespoke page.
