From there and now with Italian coloured pants it was on to the next event, in Germany at Offenbach Internationale Lederwaren Messe ( Frankfurt). Not near the same mega event in size, though with all the big names from Italy. German and lots of Dutch producers show their work here. Certainly more traditional styling and not a bad thing, but still with lots of innovators. especially from Holland which has a long history producing quality leather and bags too. Many companies from there feature that washed and worn look in very urban designs with the manufacturing done in India.... The way of things of course..
At this Fair I did get several bags from the colourful eclectic Desigual stand..(desigual.com) A large producer that still manages to make a staggering range of individual looking designs that seem to combine bright colour , textures ,effects and zany fittings with great flair. Luckily they were handing out large shopping bags, that made good presents for daughters later.... At this fair the new design accent was on urban styles, soft looks, sport and bike orientated, and again it was amazing to see it all and talk with people there, certainly more english spoken. All happy to discuss business certainly but also design and work methods. At a previous visit to Mipel (1998) I was wanting to ask about what real (as apart from tourist) courses were available in Italy, and the only person I could find with fluent enough english, was a very helpful and knowledgable elegant gent who gave me his card, from which I found later that he was a real legend in the industry and had designed many courses, as well as leatherware. He lamented that the government there had closed most training courses , unless you were in prison strangely, though it seems the art / fashion schools were stepping up I found by the later visit and of course those offered by Arpel. At that time also in Australia we were following the same course and really all leather skills courses for bags and shoes were gone. Between Milan and Offenbach we had been to Amsterdam to see the worlds best Bag Museum, see lots of art and see how Gin was made. We did taste some product, but had to stay aware enough to dodge the un- swerving bikes and be able to not breathe in too heavily in the streets around our central hotel ....
