I launched RECO in 2021, and after a few seasons, during one of my visits to the factory, Laura, the owner, showed me a few boxes on the floor and said: “Look, I’ve been keeping this for you. I thought you might like to do something with them.”
I opened the boxes and saw thousands of thin leather straps, in so many colours — it was crazy. She had been keeping all the leftovers from cutting the bag straps, resulting in these thin, beautiful pieces of leather. She also showed me another box with chain leftovers. Chains are delivered in one long piece, and when they cut them, one link is always left. So there were so many of those too! I was so excited and took a few elements with me.
That weekend, we went to visit my parents-in-law, and I took everything with me. I started playing around on the train. I always find myself inspired when I’m on the move — on a train or on a plane. It’s like ideas flow in a very natural way. So I started braiding the leather straps around the links, imagining a bracelet, a charm… I came up with quite a few interesting creations and even considered launching a new category of jewellery or accessories.
It turned out that making this object wasn’t that simple. The leather straps have a reinforcement inside to make them stronger, and it’s visible — not really beautiful. The edges need to be painted to cover it. And this is the tricky part: it has to be done by hand, very carefully. It takes time, so it becomes expensive. After several back-and-forths with the factory, they couldn’t really support me on this project. I had to find someone else, knowing it was a complicated one for a factory.
I then remembered that a good friend of mine, who worked with me at RECO, had once done a project with an atelier in Paris working with people with disabilities: Les Ateliers Perrettes. At the time, I already thought it was a great initiative, so I didn’t hesitate to contact them to create this charm together.
After a few trials, they found a very smart way to paint the edges by hand. They place double-sided tape on the table so the strap stays flat, with one edge facing up. Then they paint it carefully with a thin tool. They let it dry and repeat the process on the other side. You can actually see the small “imperfections” of the handmade process, which I personally find makes it even more beautiful and meaningful. Then the straps are braided by hand through the links.
During one of my visits, one of the women working there came to me and thanked me for giving them such a fun project to work on. She told me she really enjoyed the painting process. I was literally full of joy. My only thought was: I really hope this charm will sell well so I can make more, and different ones — all the ones I imagined back then, sitting on a train, dreaming about RECO.
So this project has finally seen the light. The TWIST charm is real, it’s ready, and it’s available. And because I really want you to have it, wear it, and customise all your bags — whether they are RECO or not — just for fun, I decided to offer one charm with every bag purchased this February.
I feel these are hard times, and maybe yes, sometimes we need an excuse — an extra push, a gift — to treat ourselves. I hope some of you will take this opportunity. I hope you feel connected to the story behind it, and I hope I can share many more projects like this one very soon.
Thank you for reading,
Continuará…
Bea
Founder of RECO
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