GEAR | Lotuff Leather

Lotuff Leather's Creative Director Lindy McDonough outside her 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit pick-up.

Lotuff Leather is a small luxury New England leather goods company that I've recently been acquainted with. I spoke with Creative Director Lindy McDonough last week and had I not known the company was in its infancy (just two years old), I would have sworn they had been around for almost a century and were just now re-emerging as another great American heritage brand. I think it's important to say up front that Lotuff's bags, totes, suitcases and satchels are expensive—this is not because of any marketing scheme or branding, but only because they use the best quality materials and have the best American artisans manufacture them. Most of us (myself included) might find ourselves priced out of their marketplace as a buyer, but I think their story is really important and I love what they're doing. As contemporary fashion seems to become more disposable and cheaply-made, Lotuff is an American manufacturer focused on quality and functionality in bags that are truly engineered to last a lifetime, not just the lifetime of a trend. In other words, these are bags worth saving for.

Their bags are unbranded (but monograms can be embossed), and you won't find a logo or unnecessary hardware anywhere. Despite the fact that Lotuff is a luxury brand, their bags are meant to be taken everywhere from an airplane to the office to a barn to a dock to the trunk of a car—and the patina of the leather will only keep getting better with age. They use only vegetable tanned leather (your nose will notice this the second it comes into contact with a Lotuff item) and because Lotuff takes much of its inspiration from well-made menswear, their bags are unlined, just as a truly high quality men's suit is unlined. Their newest women's bag is the Zipper Satchel #9 ($860), which is sturdy, stylish, and like all their goods, it's handcrafted in Norwalk, Connecticut and guaranteed for life. Lotuff is offering Tomboy Style readers a 15% discount on their website through the holiday season with the code TOMBOYSTYLE.