Briefcase Appreciation thread

[JP Marcellino]

@Dandy Wonka I appreciate that, I didn't want to bring this back up. i made 1 post direct to 1 member that I think did me injustice. i showed proof through pictures of my styles and gave clear logic to my argument.

@PCK1 - again, who are you in real life? If you want to disrespect me at least let me know who i am talking too. I don't play this unknown forum stuff. You know where to find me, i do trunkshows and artshows all over the city and Long Island, It is hard to respond to a user name, that might be a front, so please call me "idiotic" face to face.


"All he has is his word" - I'm not some fly by night leather guy popping on this thread talking !@#$.. my word is my reputation, my bond to my customers and it is how i conduct business everyday. It is how i feed my children and the foundation to my legacy, it is everything to me.

"He doesn't hold any copyrights/trademarks and he has zero legal right to assert his claims. He has no ground to stand on." - it is almost like you don't fully read, i never asserted any legal right.

SF is not just a place where i post my briefcases, it is a place where i have friends and customers. I have taken care of every member that I have made a bag for throughout the years with discounts and extras. I have contributed to the SF charity in the past. I am straight forward with everyone and do the best honest work i possibly can. i have come to know many of the members in real life, including the owner fok, and other vendors from the trunkshows. i normally don't post much, especially like my original post but i had to defend what i think is mine.

Like i said before if my reputation is not challenged i will not respond and if that leather guy is man enough to admit that he is copying my briefcase style he might gain my respect

 

[Dandy Wonka]

Time to move on and let the cards fall where they do,

 

[OmarDubaibanker]



Time to move on and let the cards fall where they do, 

here here!

 

[Boyd]

Vermylea Pelle is doing great stuff.

 

[letsi]



@Dandy Wonka
I appreciate that, I didn't want to bring this back up.  i made 1 post direct to 1 member that I think did me injustice.  i showed proof through pictures of my styles and gave clear logic to my argument. 

@PCK1
- again, who are you in real life? If you want to disrespect me at least let me know who i am talking too.  I don't play this unknown forum stuff.  You know where to find me, i do trunkshows and artshows all over the city and Long Island, It is hard to respond to a user name, that might be a front, so please call me "idiotic" face to face.


"All he has is his word" - I'm not some fly by night leather guy popping on this thread talking !@#$.. my word is my reputation, my bond to my customers and it is how i conduct business everyday.  It is how i feed my children and the foundation to my legacy, it is everything to me.

"He doesn't hold any copyrights/trademarks and he has zero legal right to assert his claims. He has no ground to stand on." - it is almost like you don't fully read, i never asserted any legal right. 

SF is not just a place where i post my briefcases, it is a place where i have friends and customers.  I have taken care of every member that I have made a bag for throughout the years with discounts and extras.  I have contributed to the SF charity in the past.  I am straight forward with everyone and do the best honest work i possibly can. i have come to know many of the members in real life, including the owner fok, and other vendors from the trunkshows. i normally don't post much, especially like my original post but i had to defend what i think is mine. 

Like i said before if my reputation is not challenged i will not respond and if that leather guy is man enough to admit that he is copying my briefcase style he might gain my respect

Sorry to detract from the Appreciation content, just wondering if we should move this part of the discussion to the JP M affiliated thread instead.

Declaration of interests: I don't own any products from Shane but have considered Shane or Simon's before. I think the accusation that they (including Equus, since Charles seemed to be a target of your ire as well?) are fly-by-night operators aren't very kind or conducive for a constructive conversation?

To be honest I think most buyers of Shane's works purchase based on the workmanship factor and premium leather material (i.e. hand stitched, single piece accordion gusset and sedgewick bridle leather) as well as the ability to customize the individual design components (i.e. lock types, gussets sections and all the other jazz).

JP, your RTW bag designs are interesting, even innovative to a certain sense. However, for someone who's more interested in classic designs and workmanship details. I'm curious if the above handwork options are available for your bags too and at what cost?

 

[JP Marcellino]

here here!

here here here - but if my name is invoked i will defend.

this was an issue i needed to make public for my customers on a forum i have been on and participate for many years. It is an issue i have with 1 guy - if his leather friends want to help so be it they have shown this bias before.

@letsi
Quote:
I've been attacked before by these leather guys on this thread / forum and said nothing. It is funny to note when they attack other brands that don't speak like SAB, hermes, etc no one says anything. The biases are apparent TO ME and the club mentality that goes on here, i just want my customers to know i am not them.


Quote:
my issue was NOT on workmanship - that is another debate

again, my issue is with a makers integrity and clear forgery of one of my briefcase styles


Quote:
thank you for the nice comments and this is a great question.

Ive been asked to repair or carbon copy briefcases before and i don't. i am not a "leather worker" I am an artist.

Yes, i do offer "all that jazz" and as far as cost? only for members of this forum and as i have always done i will beat anyone's established price

 

[Equus Leather]



here here here - but if my name is invoked i will defend.

this was an issue i needed to make public for my customers on a forum i have been on and participate for many years.   It is an issue i have with 1 guy - if his leather friends want to help so be it they have shown this bias before. 

@letsi


I've been attacked before by these leather guys on this thread / forum and said nothing. It is funny to note when they attack other brands that don't speak like SAB, hermes, etc no one says anything.  The biases are apparent TO ME and the club mentality that goes on here, i just want my customers to know i am not them. 



my issue was NOT on workmanship - that is another debate

again, my issue is with a makers integrity and clear forgery of one of my briefcase styles



thank you for the nice comments and this is a great question. 

Ive been asked to repair or carbon copy briefcases before and i don't.  i am not a "leather worker" I am an artist.

Yes, i do offer "all that jazz"  and as far as cost? only for members of this forum and as i have always done i will beat anyone's established price

JP,

Its obvious your upset about this, and I think most people can see why. What some people have commented on, including me, is your terminology. Its not fair to Shane to say he's making fakes, forgeries or similar because he shares a hardware vendor with you, he clearly isnt. Those terms have a specific legal meaning and you imply by their use that Shane is trying to pass his work off as yours. Its clear he isnt and I dont believe you or anyone else thinks he is, and your point is weakened by using them. If you think that case is painfully close to and inspired by your own work thats a whole different thing and a much better point - whilst Shane has just as much right to buy that hardware as you, it was somewhat tactless to post that photo here and as an Affiliate Vendor you have every right to ask SF to protect your investment and not let those that aren't paying for the privilege of making commercial posts from doing so, and to speak to Shane yourself and point out you'd prefer him not to borrow your designs without a huge public rant that detracts from your point. I'd also point out that MMC are only making a profit if they sell 1000s of these locks, someone, somewhere will have been using them before you and you probably wouldnt be appreciative of the same accusations applied to you. Nothing that any of us do, me, you or anyone else is unique or original, this trade is thousands of years old and however artistic we think we are we are all just reinventing the wheel, every brainwave we have has been had before, probably by every generation for hundreds of years. All we can do is reinvent the wheel a little better than last time it was done..

Anyway, enough of this, I comment only because I brought it back to life in the first place. We all have Christmas orders to make!

Charlie

Charlue

 

[JubeiSpiegel]

Everything in this thread looks SAB inspired to me anyways...

 

[Equus Leather]



Everything in this thread looks SAB inspired to me anyways...

Exactly, who were inspired by someone before them....

 

[JP Marcellino]

Quote:
Although i am surprised by your words, i appreciate you saying this.

I've never ranted on this or any forum and they come from the passion and protection of the small original things that distinguish us in like you said this old art form.

no - i don't think he is trying to pass his case as a Marcellino, never been the point. "forgery" was used more as slang, meaning as a close resemblance or deep influence, i thought it was understood,

What got me was
1- his lack of respect for me, other major brands that i respect and am influenced by SAB, LV, Hermes
2 - i don't appreciate the manufacturers of the components that make up one of my briefcase styles to be posted on a non technical forum where there are our shared customers. This undermines my business. This is not professional. No real brand that is in real business, wants trades secrets out or manufacturing sources.

 

[shanetrudell]

Everything in this thread looks SAB inspired to me anyways...

Exactly, who were inspired by someone before them....

This is the truth. These bridle cases are a Classic Form - like a jazz standard that we all endlessly improvise upon. And let's not forgot the client - my bespoke work is a collaboration between us, and the final product is driven by the clients needs and wants, filtered through the house style.

I am genuinely surprised JPM finds my work similar to his. JPM - although many may think all these cases look the same, having seen your work in these photos I have no doubt I could anytime identify a JPM from a crowd of cases, and for that I respect the continuity of vision you execute across the body of your work, no small feat. As well versed in the quiet language and small world of bridle cases as JPM no doubt is, it is clear that he paints with broad brush strokes, confident to play and deviate while retaining it's core form (the concertina gusset, the latched flap, the standard proportions...), working with (I think?) American leathers and threads, and probably American tools. No doubt he achieves the New York-vision he and his clients seek.

My own aspirations are nearly opposite - I lean towards contemporary refinements upon the form, favouring nuance, and finding inspiration in 19th century England and 21st century Japan and I believe I too achieve my style, apparent across the diverse cases I make. I won't go on, and make this about me - I imagine our clients see these differences and find one or the other favourable to their own leanings. Those who go bespoke have made these decisions already - everyone buying a $2-4000 bridle case is familiar with SAB and wants something that speaks more to them. I would be surprised to find JPM and I even share a common client from this tiny, fractured pool, so dissimilar I feel our work is, although both at play upon the same classic case. Your opinions may differ!

This will be my last post on the issue - I have been facing aggressive criticism for two pages here, and if I have been tactless or otherwise I do apologize, but I feel a need to protect my business and my clients which I hope is understandable. Earlier, I had to very specifically defend myself against unfair and specific accusations of theft of intellectual property which required the public naming of sources, a rare business tactic but what else could I do? I hope this post now serves as a general outline of my inspirations and aspirations.

We each blow life into this 200 year old form, keeping it modern in our own distinct ways. If this continues, I hope those reading will not take my silence for defencelessness, but for respect to this derailed thread.

Now can someone please post a plastic Tumi or something so I can go back to work.

Cheers,
Shane Trudell

 

[Equus Leather]

Good, right, hopefully honour satisfied all round and we can get back to making things!

Charlie

 

[dopey]



. . .
2 - i don't appreciate the manufacturers of the components that make up one of my briefcase styles to be posted on a non technical forum where there are our shared customers.  This undermines my business. This is not professional.  No real brand that is in real business, wants trades secrets out or manufacturing sources.

This is ridiculous. You have no right to demand that another company's products be kept a secret. You are not them. Moreover, some businesses take pride in their suppliers and want their customers to know where the components they use come from. That is a reasonable business practice. You have no right to demand that they conform their marketing strategy to yours. If you want people to think you make your own exclusive parts, then make your own exclusive parts. Don't buy parts from a supplier and demand that other people keep your secrets for you.

 

[d4nimal]

I can see this thread has many experienced eyes on it. I was wondering what you thought of Hrothgar Stibbon's work out of Bristol, England? He makes the Sedgwick bridle Salisbury and Winchester bags for about $357 and $507 USD + shipping (and customs, I presume), which seems on the lower end of what is often featured here. I'm considering one of those in either Dark Havana or Conker, but wanted to get some more studied opinions if possible. There's not a lot out there in terms of reviews/feedback - only saw one brief post in these pages from what I could find.

Hrothgar Stibbon bags

 

[casemaker]

Not JE Sedgwicks leather, they say " Traditional English (Devonshire) vegetable tanned bridle leather"