Valextra

Valextra is a brand of extreme luxury leather goods and accessories based in Milan, Italy.

A contemporary luxury brand for sophisticated, independent thinkers, Valextra produces design-inspired leather goods combining craftsmanship and innovation with a timeless style. Rooted in a quintessential Milanese heritage, Valextra’s clean, no-logo aesthetic has redefined modern chic.

The name is a portmanteau of "valigia", the Italian word for suitcase, and "extra".[1]

History

Foundation and early years

The Valextra brand was founded in 1937 by Giovanni Fontana in Milan's Piazza San Babila.[2] This location reflected the brand’s clientele: sophisticated women who were involved in the city’s cultural life and knowledgeable about European avant-garde movements.

From the beginning, Valextra specialised in creating luggage, handbags and accessories from exotic hides such as alligator, hippopotamus and elephant skins. Fontana traveled to Paris twice a year, looking for inspiration in the fashion capital. He then translated these influences into a modern idea of beauty, which mixed aesthetics and functionality. He set up a workshop above the shop, where he worked with a model-maker to bring his concepts to life. In its first few decades, the company licensed over 100 patents and won a Compasso D’Oro for the 24 Ore bag, at the award’s inaugural edition in 1954.[3]

Brand Evolution

During the rich postwar period, Valextra started catering for entrepreneurs and international jet-setters.

This coincided with the introduction of Fontana’s son, Tito, into the company. Together with his son Stefano, Tito introduces a new, design-led direction for the company.[4]

The pair introduced several innovations between 1963 and 1972, when the company also released two new inventions with the modern man in mind: AG Fronzoni’s Forma 0, Valextra’s first rigid suitcase,[5] and the Premier suitcase, which was gifted to Milan’s mayor Aldo Aniasi.[6] This is also when the Small Leather Goods line was properly developed: small, pocket-sized objects designed to easily manage cash and the newly-popular credit cards, to be lightweight and easy to carry for travel and whose quality was reflected both in the choice of materials and in the product design itself.

Over the decades, Valextra has continued to follow its founder’s belief in craftsmanship, in the past few years also strengthening its design-led aesthetic with special collaborations that expanded the company’s vision.[7]

Acquisitions

In 2000, the company was purchased by Emanuele Carminati Molina [8] who served as its President until 2013.

In 2013, private equity firm Neo Capital bought 60% of Valextra.[9]

Between 2013 and 2014 Marco Franchini was CEO, and the role was passed to Alessandra Bettari who served as CEO until May 2015.[10]

In May 2015, Sara Ferrero became the company's CEO.[11]

The current CEO of Valextra, announced in January 2021, is Xavier Rougeaux.[12][13]Ralph Toledano also joined the board of directors.[14]

Production

Each Valextra piece is hand-made in Italy by a team of master craftsmen.[15]

Most of its pieces are crafted from soft-grained Martellato calfskin or the newer smooth Parigi leather (a smooth, semi-matte material), and lined in velvety suede. Almost every bag is produced with white leather lining on the inside.[16] The collections include a vast palette of neutral as well as bright colours.

Each piece is characterised by distinctive details such as the hand-finished black Costa lacquered edge, engineered closures, metallic details. A logo and unique serial number embossed inside the bag, and a monogramming service is available upon request.

Each bag bears the individual artisan number of the craftsperson who oversaw its creation.

Since its beginning Valextra's designs have been modernist and un-ornamented, and aesthetically minimalist and discreet. Lightweight, graphic and essential, silhouettes derive from the brand’s design-led aesthetic. Valextra conveys an ideal of absolute and lasting beauty, devised in every detail as a complex architecture. Every component is cut and assembled through specialised engineering and technicality, modelling geometrical contours, folding constructions, asymmetrical frames and sharp angles.

Valextra does not make logo-pattern products, the logo is kept exclusively on the inside of their pieces.

Several of the items first made by the company in 1937 are still in production; while cleaning and repairs are provided for life.

The company also offers a service to create custom luggage and handbags to the customer's specification.[17]

The brand operates based on values of culture, beauty, quality and innovation.

Stores

Via Manzoni, Milan

The company’s flagship store in Milan’s via Manzoni is inside an 1850s palazzo that also houses the company’s head offices. The store sells the company’s bags, small leather goods and travel accessories for men and women.

International stores

Valextra operates stores worldwide.

Valextra is present with flagship stores in Mainland China (Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing), Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. It also operates flagship locations in department stores in the USA and Asia.

Design projects

CEO Sara Ferrero has been commissioning international architects, artists and designers to work on projects that re-invent the aesthetics of Valextra stores.

Since 2015, the Milanese flagship store was reinterpreted through pop-up installations designed by the most celebrated international designers and architects. Every year, the Via Manzoni store gets a pop-up facelift by an international creative, and past collaborators of the brand include John Pawson,[18] Kengo Kuma,[19] Michael Anastassiades, Snarkitecture [20] and more.

Ferrero also commissions designers and architects to work on both temporary and permanent projects for international stores and in-store corners, with previous projects by Neri & Hu,[21] Shingo Masuda,[22] Atelier Biagetti,[23] Max Lamb,[24] Martino Gamper [25] and Aranda Lasch [26] among others.

Key products

Some of the company’s key products include:

Iside: Launched for the first time in 2011, with its distinctive pyramidal shape, the Iside is one of the highest successes of the brand. An eclectic and feminine bag which can be carried as a top handle or worn more casually as a cross body, it is available in four different sizes (micro, mini, medium and large), two different clutches and two cross-body bags, one backpack and one travel bag.[27][28]

Brera: a piece from the 1950s, the Brera is an everyday bag featuring the distinctive Pignone fastening, developed in Valextra workshop in Piazza San Babila. Brera has grown into a collection which includes a top handle style, available in two sizes (medium and large), a shoulder bag, a soft tote, a cross-body bag, purses and accessories.[29]

Passepartout: considered by Valextra the most versatile bag of its collection, the Passepartout is a large bag that can be carried as a handbag, as a tote or as a duffle bag, with a front pocket that detaches and doubles as an evening clutch. It is available in three sizes (maxi, medium and mini).[30]

Tric Trac: a patented design from 1967, its modern silhouette takes cues from a camera case. The bag was named after the original geometric snap closure, whose ingenious design takes advantage of the natural stiffness of the leather. It is still one of the company’s best sellers thanks to its modern form, available in two models. The Tric Trac features a small handle and a zipper compartment that can be used as an on-the-go notebook, or become a mirror case in the bag’s more feminine version.[31][32]

Serie S: it was launched launched for the first time in 1961 and given a patent for its innovative approach to shape. Valextra relaunched this piece in 2019 with an updated design,[33][34] and also collaborated with designer Michael Anastassiades on a special version.[35]

Small Leather Goods: the collection includes purses, wallets, coin purses, card cases, glasses cases, key holders.[36]

Travel: faithful to its name, the company still produces a vast range of travel goods. The collection includes the rigid Costa suitcase, two trolleys as well as a series of travel bags and accessories.[37]

Celebrity customers

From the 1940s through 1970s, Valextra handbags and luggage were frequently purchased by celebrities and wealthy clients. Among them were Gianni Agnelli, Grace Kelly, Aristotle and Jacqueline Onassis, Maria Callas.[38]

In November 2019, Jennifer Aniston selected Valextra accessories for her highly anticipated TV series, This Morning Show.[39]

Today, Valextra bags are regularly sported by celebrities such as Priyanka Chopra, Reese Witherspoon, Sharon Stone and Anne Hathaway.

See also

References
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  11. Zanzi, Caterina. "Ferrero nuovo AD di Valextra - Pambianconews notizie e aggiornamenti moda, lusso e made in Italy". www.pambianconews.com/ (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  12. Caruccio, Marco. "Rougeaux prende la guida di Valextra - Pambianconews notizie e aggiornamenti moda, lusso e made in Italy". www.pambianconews.com/ (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-01-27.
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  14. "Valextra Names Xavier Rougeaux CEO, Adds Ralph Toledano to Board". The Business of Fashion. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
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