A painting by the French painter Paul Gauguin, 1897-98.
with the start of the new century, he painted his masterpiece, the best of his creativity and it is the largest painting, almost four meters long and over one meter high.
It deals with the big questions of life but gives no answer to them.
Good and now?
What does this have to do with us? Not much, but just a little bit.
When I first saw this painting, I thought of us. The color combination of blue shades, ochre and brown was re-interpretable with our bags.
A bag for everyone, young or old. All periods of life, as portrayed by Gauguin. Each one according to his own personality. Each one according to the way he feels. Fancy, modern or vintage. That’s the way every person is and so is the bag.
To be honest, we’re a little bit proud of our concept and because we really believe in it, we live by it.
We are 6 people, with 6 different ages, from 1960 to 1995, 3 nationalities, 3 savoir-vivre, and 6 different bags. A bit of Berlin, a bit of Munich, a bit of Bologna and a bit of Cairo.
And therefore the name.
sty.ma
Small written, because we have nothing to prove. We are who we are.
With one point, because a bag should be forever. A friend who accompanies you in the changing scenarios of life and always remains the same. Only alive With a few more scratches.
With a meaning, from the Italian word “appreciation”.
And a y, just because it made us feel cooler.
Gauguin has often portrayed himself as a black dog in his paintings. A perceptible piece of him in every work. similarly, there is a piece of us in every sty.ma. Each bag manufactured is examined by at least two of us during quality control. You should get what you paid for. Appreciation and so…
We regularly fly to Italy to visit the Pelletteria, where the bags are handmade. A family business in three generations.
We know where the leather is purchased. We take care that the colors stay up-to-date and sometimes we also add small surprises for a limited time. We pack ourselves and take care of goodies. If you have any questions or problems, you will talk to us personally. Feel free to call.
From the inner lining to the zipper, everything is well thought out and sty.ma-approved. But, quite honestly, nothing is pointless. The zipper is a zipper, holds what it is supposed to, but it is not made of gold. The metal parts are metal parts, hold what they are supposed to, but they are not adamant. The leather is calfskin. Soft, durable, colorful and elegant. No crocodile, giraffe, elephant or basilisk leather. We will never offer this to you, so if you want to have elephant leather, a sty.ma is not for you. Sorry, but we have nothing to do with that.
Another feature of Gauguin’s work is the white bird on the left. A symbol for “the nothingness of empty words.” This also applies to us, no empty words in marketing, no inflated promises, no mirage. you get what you see. Nothing more, nothing less.
We are not in the beginning of a new century, but we are something new that was not there before. We offer a limited number of bags every month. We will not produce them until you have ordered them. So be patient, you have to wait at least 3 weeks.
“what is worth waiting for.”
Ovid
Or if we want to say it in a more melodramatic way
“Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim”
“Be patient and endure: someday this pain will be useful to you.”
Ovid
So finally comes the question: Is sty.ma as with Gauguin our masterpiece, the highlight of our creativity and our greatest project?
Well, we work to live and don’t live to work. In our lives there are more important things than colorful bags but sty.ma is definitely something special for us. Also because the base is our long lasting friendship.
Ovid even knew back then that a bag was very useful…
We don’t ask life questions, we give small, colorful answers made of leather.
