Tanner Krolle bag

Mar 22, 2003 /FWD/ --- One of England's old greats, Tanner Krolle, is back in British hands and about to launch some of the best bags in its 146-year history. With a new designer, new store and new lines, the company -- a style secret known by celebs and royal households and heads of state -- is about to explode.

Founded in London in 1856 by Fredrick Krolle, a second-generation saddler, it was initially based on a bridle leather range inspired by the famous Gladstone bag. The bags quickly became a necessity for stylish women traveling by train or steamship.

Fast forward to 2002 when Guy Salter and Rupert Hambro & Partners acquired Tanner Krolle from the Chanel Group. In October, the first of the new Tanner Krolle shops opened in London's Burlington Gardens, with a design concept that is light, accessible, and above all, modern. Much of the new look Krolle is headed towards is from the vision of designer Quentin Mackay, whose heart has been with the company long before his appointment as designer.

"When I was working as an apprentice at Tanner Krolle's North London factory I came up with many designs - it was just that nobody in charge took any notice in those days," he told FWD. This prompted him to leave for St. Martin's, where he supported himself designing his own accessories collections.

After his stint at St. Martin's, he was asked to join Tanner Krolle as a designer, which he did until Krolle's new owner Guy Salter asked him to help in "breathing new life into the collections; it's been like coming home," he explained.

Although Mackay has introduced four new cool and chic designs, they are still made with the exceptional quality leather that Tanner Krolle has built its reputation on. And the designs are most definitely London-inspired.

The "Punch" style, which Mackay admits he "designed in my head for Tanner Krolle even before I started here," is expected to become a design classic for the company. It's curvy and comes in the coolest colors of shine leather -- cream leather off set with biscuit suede, distressed mustard leather and classic black high shine leather combined with suede.

"My Lovely" is an unstructured contrast to "Punch"; it has a drawstring closure and designed in leather Air-tex in citrus orange, classic camel and black. "Queeny" is a shopper that can work as a briefcase or laptop and is available in high shine leather and suede with details in black, pink and cream with biscuit and finally "Poppycock" is the sexy one of the group, with its intricate hand stitching, broguing and edge staining.

The bags have been a huge hit over in the U.K. so far. "Women need bags and accessories that fit in with, and help them with, their lifestyle. At Tanner Krolle we believe this functionality is as important as the way the bag looks. The reaction we are getting from our new bags is firstly 'I love that bag! I have to have it!' closely followed by 'Wow, look at that lining! It has so much room, the phone pocket is so useful...' This is exactly as it should be," Mackay said.

His success can also be credited to his firm beliefs in the power of accessories.

"Above all, women need bags and accessories that transform the way they look. It may be a Look-at-Me bag to lift a simple dress or a more classic one to balance a more cutting edge style. Accessories are the vital finishing touch. They often say much more about a woman than their dress."