There are a few reasons why I think the bag brand Métier might appeal to PS readers. Let me set them out in typically geeky PS-style.
First, they don’t have any branding. The prices might be fashion-brand prices, but there’s no big name stamped on the outside – the identity comes from the colours, that diamond-shaped hardware on the women’s line, from some distinctive designs.
Second, they are well made. The construction in Italy (Florence and Naples) is very good and uses precise thicknesses of leather to keep the weight down. The leathers are high-end, often unusual, and age well – this is not the fashion norm of corrected grains.
Third, the design is deliberately practical. The bags nearly always have a magnetically sealed pocket on the outside for quick access, plus a zippered one for security. There are multiple internal pockets. In fact I don’t think I’d ever use all the card and pen pockets most bags have.
The brand started 10 years ago and has had a London shop since 2017. The founder, Melissa Morris, is American but wanted to open in London partly to be closer to the makers in Italy. The brand is also planning on opening in New York.
The shop on London’s South Audley Street is beautiful: wood-panelled with hidden cupboards to echo a Riva boat, subtly branded with things like a diamond-shaped table. But given the luxurious décor, and the lines of tourists outside brands on Mount Street around the corner, I can imagine a classic-and-craft-driven reader being a little sceptical.
Which is why I led with points about the product. This is very much a product-driven brand.
Fashion brands don’t tend to include stories about how products age. Partly that’s not what people want, and partly it’s because they don’t have good stories to tell. But Métier do, even if they don’t put them front and centre.
I saw the shop manager’s handbag when I visited, several years into its life, and what looked like an almost patent leather had softened into a surface with a subtle, varied texture, which was much more rich and personal.
One of my favourite materials for the men’s bags is buffalo. Melissa used buffalo leather because she wanted a fine, irregular grain but didn’t want to stamp a pattern on, as most brands of that ilk do. I also like the ‘Elvis’ leather (above), which is the same but with a waxed finish, giving it a more glamorous look but one that also softens over the life of the bag.
There’s a good article here on the Métier site actually that looks at some of those making details, and the idea of journeys that drives a lot of the functionality.
Not all of the designs are my style. I find the backpacks a little too delicate and the big zips on something like the Vagabond are too prominent for me.
But all of them are interesting – striving to be new on well-trodden ground – and there are everyday classics in there as well. The Closer All Day (below) is as good a briefcase as you’ll find, filling that gap that men often struggle with between an old-fashioned flapover case and a simple tote.
My other favourite is the Nomad, which in its smaller size also fills a gap I think – one between a briefcase and a weekender; not so small as to be dinky but not so big as to quickly become heavy.
In some ways, the women’s bags are actually more classic than the men’s – often because they’re simple and clean.
The Vérité (above), for example, doesn’t read as feminine to me despite its slim handle. It just looks a little fancy. It’s only when the women’s models have more hardware on the outside – like that lozenge closure – that they start to look feminine. And even then I know guys that would love them.
Something like the larger version of the Private Eye (below) looks like quite a traditional men’s style, but the silhouette and the lines of the outer pockets have been redrawn, making it look fresh.
In fact this is probably the crux of the issue – the thing that would push someone to spend the big tag of £3000 on one of these bags.
Traditional men’s bags are great – they’re strong and they age well and they’re good value – but they can feel as if no one’s rethought them in 100 years. That makes them heavy, sometimes impractical (eg an attaché) and obviously very traditional in style. Men’s bags rarely get the design attention that these Métier ones have.
Everything from the colours to the travel cubes has been thought through with a particular use case in mind. Those travel cubes are expensive too, but they’re lightweight, practical and tasteful, such that I’d still be tempted to get one to put in another bag.
New style means unusual style, and Métier won’t be for everyone. In fact in many ways the brand is more Paris or Los Angeles than it is London, despite the shop being here. It’s more refined and obviously luxurious.
I’ve had quite a few questions from readers about Métier in the past year, which I think shows there is interest in new bag brands like this. Interesting high-end men’s offerings are pretty rare.
If I had to choose, I’d get a Closer All Day in the black buffalo (£3,150) or the impressively subtle racing green. I love the fact that the latter looks almost black but it’s not. It’s perfect for the guy that wants the formality of black but feels that’s a little boring or corporate.
Or I’d get the smaller size of the Nomad (£2,890) in a dark suede, chocolate or khaki. Those colours aren’t available at the moment, but are coming back apparently. The Nomad I’d use every day as a commuter bag, but it would have more room for clothes samples, a little gym kit and so on.
It says something for the taste level of Métier that all these colours work with the purple ‘Amarone’ lining used throughout. It shouldn’t work with everything, but it does.
