With a line of goods so incredibly right it tacitly proves how every other company is getting it wrong, Aspinal must be the only leather company that can be diagnosed as passive-aggressive. Luxury wallets, passport holders, luggage tags, portfolios: ‘I hope all our products simply ooze quality and class,’ writes founder Iain Burton in exclusive correspondence with The Cad, ‘but something about our products must also ‘surprise’ a little, make an impact, and give each product something of a ‘wow’ factor.’ For Aspinal, that factor is its signature contrastive lining of silk and suede.

 

Nearly every one of its products that can be opened and closed takes receipt of this masterstroke. A cerulean ladies’ wallet is mated to a striking lime interior. A men’s toiletry case contains a removable, washable lining of scarlet. It’s this sort of attention to detail and quality that, despite being a company with less than four years history, elicits feelings of continued stateliness - as though Aspinal had begun its life as a Victorian corner shop, its craftsmen fashioning accoutrements for the frock-coated and swallow-tailed. That concept, it turns out, was all part of Mr. Burton’s master plan.

 

     ‘I deliberately set out to first establish a range of sumptuous classic English products,’ he writes, ‘most of which had a contemporary little twist. I believed whilst we are now in the age of high technology, the affection, perhaps even nostalgia for the style and quality of a bygone era will increase, not disappear.’

 

     But like the man who quite by accident discovers the unified theory of quantum physics, from this statement we are led to believe that Mr. Burton doesn’t realize his own company is anything but nostalgic. Whereas the travel gear, journals, and briefcases offered by other established design houses are meant to recapture the glamorous eras of steam travel and jetset, Aspinal of London simply refuses to believe that era had ended. When asked about this timelessness of his products, Mr. Burton attributes it to his surroundings. ‘First, we are English,’ he writes, ‘based in the English countryside in West Sussex, right in the heart of the English polo country. We do not need to pretend or to emulate, we are who we are and I hope that the true essence of the business and its culture shows.’ And so it does, which isn’t bad for a bloke who started out in the usually less-than-qualitative record biz.

 

     It’s a mid-80s U.K. and young Iain Burton, a clerk at EMI, forms a partnership with Simon Cowell (Yes, that Simon Cowell) to create Fanfare Records. The two release a string of synth-pop records, enjoy success, sell the label to BMI, go their own ways, and, eventually, Mr. Burton exhibits his entrepreneurial flair by establishing an audio technology firm for self-guided tours (‘Next, we have a Van Gogh’). When his product winds up in nearly every major museum in the world, he decides he wants to get back to his creative roots, so there’s another sell-out after which he dreams up the little leather company that could. Initially, the line comprises wallets, wedding albums, social books, and assorted portfolios and cases, but with flagship stores planned for London and New York, Aspinal is introducing a range of covetable products at an accelerated rate. Over the last few months jewelry boxes for men and women have been added, a new ladies’ vanity case makes one pine for a gentlemen’s equivalent, and for the gamester of average means there are Faberge inspired playing cards to be had while the far-more-than-comfortable can pick up a backgammon set entirely crafted of English bridle. But despite this rapid growth of Aspinal, Mr. Burton’s obsession with the leathercraft process from beginning to end assures a continuance of craftsmanship and integrity.

     ‘We don’t design a product and then have it made in China or India,’ he writes. ‘Eighty percent of everything we make is still made here in the UK by leather master craftsmen and women. All our leathers are tanned exactly to our requirements, mostly using organic vegetables and dyes, and we are now working hard towards a future where all leather tanned for us and used by Aspinal will be from identifiable organic sources where every single hide can be identified and traced to birth. Whilst I’m not a vegetarian, this is an important personal goal for me, and I believe must be a goal for every conscientious leather goods manufacturer.’

     It is this sort of thinking that will make Aspinal inimical, though other manufactures have already taken note of its style and are beginning to emulate. Certainly, Mr. Burton finds this creative thievery to be a bit of an annoyance, but at the same time, flattering. ‘Copies are copies,’ he claims. ‘Our customers value what we do and appreciate that we make superb products already at very affordable prices.’

     And, overall, just how affordable is the Aspinal line? A breast wallet, one you should have for years with proper care, will set you back a C-note. The passport wallet comes in for $40 which is the same price as one of this writer’s favorite Aspinal items, a pocket memo pad worthy of hard-boiled detectives with suspects too few and facts too many (Aspinal has even thought to equip it with a pen loop should one of those fast-talking flaxen-haired suspects casually offer her number.) In the business line there are folios to be had in a range of sizes and prices ($125 and up), and should one be in the market for just about the swankiest briefcase to be produced this side of Dr. No, one to three gusset models are offered for $499, $585, and $645.

     Or perhaps it’s a present you seek for a very special girl - one of charm and wit whom you’d like to see uniquely accoutred. Let her other suitors spend a half-week’s pay on the mundane offerings of big-name designers, while you, for $155, can dazzle her with an amethyst wallet that appears to have been nicked from Audrey Hepburn’s handbag. Or maybe it’s a case for her glasses she needs. Then how about a sky blue St. Tropez model lined with that signature lime suede? ($60) A Parisian jewelry case? Only $180, which, for that easy price, would even allow you to fill it with a sparkling trinket or two. And Aspinal hasn’t forgotten about the busy executrix either, as it offers the same swank briefcases in pink and blue.

     Ultimately, Aspinal’s world is our world, too, and that is why The Cad champions Mr. Burton and his work. It’s about donning a suit to fly even though the ticket may be coach and about wearing a tux to dine even though it may be a burger down at the pub. It’s about style, quality, and integrity, and while Mr. Burton designed his line to ‘ooze class’, the company he created deftly avoids the aerie of priggery. I suspect that Mr. Burton had this in his mind when he founded Aspinal of London, for he has given us a smart-yet-subdued range of leather accessories that isn’t meant to say ‘I’m rich,’ or even ‘I have arrived,’ but rather to humbly state ‘I’m here.’

The line can be found at Aspinal of London.