Trunks, cases and small leather goods, made in Maitland, Cape Town
See the range
We work out of a double garage behind a panelbeater off Voortrekker Road in Maitland. Cases here are built over a jointed hardwood frame and then covered, rather than moulded out of a shell, which is why a corner can be replaced instead of the whole case being written off. Two of us do the making, and one bench is kept clear for repairs — we re-stitch handles, fit new wheels and replace locks on cases we did not make, moulded ones included. Most repairs go out inside two weeks.
Twelve-ounce waxed canvas on a leather base, 52 by 28 by 26 cm, with rolled handles stitched through to the underside so the weight sits on the leather rather than on a seam. It takes a long weekend for two, or a week for one person who packs properly. The base carries a second layer of leather where it meets the ground, because that is where a bag of this shape always goes first.
R3 850.00Add to cart
Ninety by fifty by forty-five centimetres, built over a jointed hardwood frame with steel caps on every corner and leather binding down each edge. It is heavy on purpose — this is the one that stands in a passage, survives a move, and then holds blankets for twenty years. Two people to carry it once it is full, which we would rather say before you buy it than after.
R7 900.00Add to cart
Cut to 55 by 36 by 23 cm, the cabin size the local airlines still allow, with the wheels and the handle counted inside that measurement rather than added to it. The wheels are a standard castor we keep on the shelf, so when one goes we fit a new one at the bench in an afternoon instead of writing the case off. Lined in a cotton drill you can actually wipe out.
R4 950.00Add to cart
One piece of veg-tan leather folded and saddle-stitched by hand, 14 by 10 cm, with no lining to bulk it out in a jacket pocket. It holds a passport, two cards and a boarding pass and nothing more, which is the point of it. The corners go a darker brown after about a year and the stitch line stays exactly where it was put.
R495.00Add to cart
Waxed canvas outside, wipeable cotton drill inside, 26 by 18 cm flat and about 20 cm rolled. It shuts on a leather strap rather than a zip, because the zip is the part that gives in on nearly every one of these we are asked to fix. There is a loop at the top so it hangs off a door in the bathrooms that have no counter space.
R1 250.00Add to cart
Takes two suits, or a suit and a dress, on their own hangers, then folds once over the shoulder for the car — 110 cm hanging and 60 cm folded. The crease is padded along the fold, which is the part that usually puts a line across a jacket somewhere between Cape Town and a wedding in the Karoo. Four internal ties hold the hangers still on gravel.
R2 690.00Add to cart
Two bridle-leather tags with brass roller buckles, 10 by 5 cm each, sold as a pair because one always disappears at a carousel. Your details slot into a covered window behind the flap, so nobody standing at the belt reads your home address off the side of your bag. The buckles are solid brass rather than plated, so they dull instead of flaking.
R390.00Add to cart
Two at 36 by 26 cm and two at 26 by 18 cm, in a lighter version of the canvas we use on the cases, with mesh tops so you can see what is in each one without opening it. They are cut to fit the cabin case exactly, two across the bottom and two stacked on top. Sold as a set of four because four is what fills the case.
R850.00Add to cartUnit 4, Sunrise Circle, Maitland. Weekdays 08:00–16:30, Saturdays until 12:00. Repairs are quoted off a photograph — send one, with your number and what you are travelling with.
