At Palmer & Sons we make all of our designs by our very own hands in Vancouver, Canada. My son Jack and myself design, prototype, and produce each design one at a time by hand from start to finish. Using traditional methods, heritage materials and vintage tools to bring you designs that are timeless and peaceful in their principles. We hope you enjoy our limited issue designs, we feel they speak to a slow, calm, and more enjoyable mode of life.
The slow, painstaking attention to detail. Work done by hand, by artisans who understand materials, design, construction, and the environment. The enjoyment of the resulting products cannot be called anything less than pleasure. And the lookbook for the leather bags of Palmer & Sons is set in the beach and by the roadside, where life waits patient yet expectant.
This suitcase (Leather Suitcase No 03 XXS) — with its leather fastenings, brass rivets, metalware, and cocobolo and walnut handle — looks suited for adventure. As if some buried treasure was meant to be placed inside it, after travelling thousands of miles and facing strange people, unpredictable terrain, and merciless weather.
First I was worried by the bulk of it and the hard material that must give it its shape, but as it happens, it is only semi-rigid and uses no wood. The best thing about it? It is custom-built so no two bags are identical.
Part of the customization is a choice of interior fabrics: from plain green wool and beige suede to woven silks by Etro and Mulberry and Chinese variations that come with brocade.
The standard interior.
From an XXS version of the suitcase in London Tan, we go to its Small version (Leather Suitcase No 03 S) in chestnut (in this image at least).
With the increased size comes variations in the way the leather flaps are cut.
A different wood combination (padauk and walnut) is also used for the handle, which is now double-layered.
Then finally the Medium version (Leather Suitcase No 03 M).
It looks big enough to hold a small instrument. And the shoulder straps are as wide as barbers' sharpening strops.
It's easy to imagine this bag floating to a beach from a shipwreck — the leather still retaining its sheen in some parts, but beautifully aged and weathered.
You can bring it anywhere.
Take not just artisan's implements, but also books and documents.
Now this messenger (Leather Bag No 01 M) is the urban soldier's companion.
It is as handy as a satchel.
With rivets playfully outlining the edges.
Don't you just love the hand-carved cocobolo wood toggle? It gives the bag a character beyond bags.
I can imagine myself waiting for someone or drinking at a cafe while absent-mindedly stroking the grain of the leather and feeling the cold rivets.
For diehards there is the Leather Gladstone No 10 L.
No matter what you do, this reminds you of trains and long travel. The view of carriages, the countryside, and smoke absorbing idle chatter that drifts and dissolves with the passing of time.
The top rails are made of cocobolo and ebony. This model uses Havana brown leather.
Ah, the vagaries of travel. The detours of waiting.
A shoulder purse (Leather Bag No 09 S) for women.
The zebra wood toggle. Don't the possibilities amaze you?
Made of chestnut bridle leather.
I think a big flappy cluth with rivets would be a nice addition to the collection.
Since we look at our mobiles for the time anyway, why not completely do away with watch faces and replace them with shackles?
This cuff (Leather Cuff No 12a) is a study in masculinity.
It is assertive, yet not brutal.
The screw even looks like a watch dial.
Items like this cuff and the previous bags are license to return to the attentive slowness of life.
Time enough to enjoy beauty, to wait, and to walk — to wander; to travel.