Qui es-tu Claramonte ?

Who are you Claramonte ?

By Philippe Bertrand

Qui es-tu Claramonte ?

To you Ladies...

Welcome to this first article of our blog!

To you, our customers, who proudly wear our braided leather or virgin wool handbags, you who bring our large elegant and original tote bags to life, our practical and aesthetic shoulder bags, or our hand-woven purses. You, who are always on the move, who travel and run to your plane. You, who are open-minded and curious about foreign cultures. You are free and nomadic! And we love you that way because Claramonte looks like you ...

The genesis : Pierre, Marocco the beginning of a big story 

It all started in 2005 in Morocco. My first trip to this country, at age 20. First emotional shock and great cultural flash. A year in which I lived with nothing, where I fed on all this magical environment. Handicrafts are everywhere. An invitation to creation when you are a designer. We want to try and realize all the ideas and creations we have in mind. In this beautiful country, if you have the strength and the will, you can do anything !

Then came the meeting with Pierre and his vision as an object designer, which he applies to the braided handbag. Our inspirations intersect and grow richer. We then use countless authentic Moroccan materials for the making of our women's bags: whether it is their blankets, their plaids and other rugs, everything inspires us. Then those desires evolved into a thirst for something else: as a designer and stylist, we have the need to renew our spirit and our creativity at every moment.

To bohemians handbags at the nomadic inspirations

Today, we mix leatherwork and handmade braiding with quality European materials, with high added value, such as linen woven in Belgium, made in France canvas, Spanish raffia, Italian chain ...

We love to discover local fabrics and materials, to take them elsewhere, change their function and transform into something new when we integrate them into our original accessories and bags. You will instantly understand that finding the right mix of materials is in our DNA!

The same rings true for our use of colors. We like to showcase them in our handbags, using intense black with bright and fruity colors, or pastel and natural shades, to bring a contrast with bayadere stripes or a set of madras checks. Our handbags, backpacks, shoulder bags, purses, tote bags or other small hand-braided leather bags would not exist without our craftsmen with traditional and centuries-old know-how. For 15 years, we have been working with the same family, in a small rural village 30 km from Marrakech, which has been weaving our handbags since the birth of the Claramonte brand. At the time, there were only 2 artisans, today we are in collaboration with around thirty Moroccan braiders! Great pride for them and for us, and great mutual respect.

The fusion of traditional craftsmanship and design

Through our creations, we celebrate the fusion of traditional craftsmanship and our contemporary sensibility to find unexpected combinations of materials and colors, to offer you collections of handbags adapted to your life and your desires. Discover our latest collections, models and inspirations on our lookbooks.

 

Philippe & Pierre.