The little bag shop that could
Embossed velveteen fabric in deep aubergine covers the walls, giving off an air of refined elegance. Framed, matte gold shelves are built into the walls; inside these hang chic leather bags in various styles and designs. A dark wooden table sits towards the center of the room, its polished gleam a bit imposing. A few feet away is an ottoman in nearly the same plush fabric as the walls. All these sit in a space dimly lit by yellow lighting so subdued that you feel like it’s late afternoon even if the noontime sun is shining brightly outside.
This is Vintage Restore. As its name suggests, the quaint, little shop refurbishes vintage pieces, bags in particular. Although — if you’ve gathered from the shop’s description — this is not your regular neighborhood bag and leather goods repair store. Vintage Restore specializes in bringing back to life torn, tattered, and seemingly irreparable designer bags: vintage Chanels with tarnished chains, Guccis with ripped linings, Vuittons with shredded leather straps, Goyards that look as though moths have nested in them. “Most of our clients are actually young women in their mid-twenties who want to use slightly damaged bags that they inherited from their mothers or grandmothers,” says Trisha Cruz-Cuason, Vintage Restore’s very own bag doctor.
This is local fashion’s little shop that could, an emergency room of sorts for women’s beloved carriers. Vintage Restore offers repairs as simple as replacing a frayed lining, or something as complicated as electroplating a metal chain strap to restore its former luster. Trisha shows me a vintage Gucci shoulder bag, which they had fashioned with new leather piping and new straps; prior to repair, the client was contemplating throwing it out.
What makes Vintage Restore unquestionably superior to repair shops found in malls is their use of the finest leather material and the most up-to-date methods. Every bag is first diagnosed and Trisha will tell you outright if something can be repaired or not. If it’s not beyond hope, they make you choose material from an entire scrapbook of samples.
But apart from giving new life to woman’s best friend, Vintage Restore also actually makes its own bags. In fact, the totes displayed within the framed shelves are created by Trisha’s sister, Lally Cruz-Dizon and carry her name.
These bags deserve the framed setting they are in. If you inspect any of Lally’s stylish totes, you’ll find that the leather is of the utmost quality and that the crafting is meticulous. She works mostly with leather, and has been recently experimenting with patent, a trend that promises to be big for summer 2008. Most of her creations are structured and monochromatic and reflect the general store aesthetic: plush, subdued and luxurious. Lally tries to come up with two to three designs a week, to promote a steady influx of new styles to the store and to assure that there are only few pieces of each design.
“I name the bag after the first person who buys it,” say Lally. I get one of the newer styles, a sizeable structured purple tote, and she tells me, “Since you’re the first owner, this is now the Ana bag.”
If none of Lally’s ready-made bags catch your fancy, then made-to-order is definitely an option. Vintage Restore is one of, if not the only, local brand that makes luxury bags on request. Lally shows me hundreds of choices of skins, clasps, closures, linings and straps to choose from, in every color conceivable. You can either tweak any of her designs or describe in detail exactly what you want, at an additional price of 20 to 30 percent more than the ready-made bags (priced at a minimum of P4,200) and a waiting time of two to three weeks — not bad for a carefully-constructed bespoke tote.
What Vintage Restore really offers, though, more than the craftsmanship and the quality materials, is years of experience in bag-making. Prior to putting up the store, Trisha and Lally were working in the bag-exporting business created by their mother Edna Cruz. In fact, Lally’s bags are crafted by artisans of Vintage Restore’s mother company, Martinique International, which, for 30 years, has been supplying pieces to big-name international brands such as Dillards and Rafe. This transition to retail, however, came about after the two sisters realized that they’d rather channel their creativity into something more localized.
Their decision to put up the store couldn’t have come at a better time: local designer retail has been enjoying more and more recognition in the last couple of years. And the two sisters behind Vintage Restore haven’t lagged in realizing this. “Now seems to be the right time to get into this kind of business,” says Trisha. “The Philippine market is ready for locally-made luxury items.” For a bespoke tote and naming rights to a bag, most women would agree.
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Vintage Restore is located at the 2/F Dona Consolacion Bldg., Jupiter St., Bel-Air Village, Makati; tel. no. 890-4326.
