Yours truly? Well, yes. Truly and faithfully until the bag dances the intergenerational boogie and belongs to someone else in your family with all the relished moments of you connected to it. Wolf & Maiden products go on a journey with their owners, collecting memories and stories along the way. The leather atelier in Cape Town, established by Wade Ross Skinner in 2011, invites us to add a tad of our own story to the future heirloom accessory, which in essence is an intergenerational thread.
Wade and his son, Daire Wolf Skinner.
You pick up your father’s musty old travel bag. It’s been in the garage for years, in the dark and alone. The soft, supple feel and leathery smell of it reminds you of him. A memory flashes through your mind. You want to tell this story to your own children. You dust it off, clean it up and sling it over your shoulder. . . ready for the next adventure, ready to make more memories, to tell more stories.
The Renaissance Collection was launched to give products a voice to tell stories in the form of digitally captured memories through the handcrafted accessories that are manufactured to last lifetimes. In this case, in more ways than one.
The collection was conceived to enable special items in our lives to capture stories and memories in real time like never before using the power of technology, to make sentimentality tangible and memories accessible for generations to come through a beautiful digital experience attached to a beautifully made, sustainable product.
Since first putting a needle through leather, Wade has employed traditional craftsmanship to create timeless, design-forward products that evolve with their owners – now taken a step further with each bag being uniquely and digitally identifiable via an embedded NFC chip. Once authenticated in the Storyteller App, your bag will have the capacity to capture memories across time, giving it a voice to carry its stories through the generations and so much more.
Three Purpose-Made Designs for the Year MMXX (2020)
The Niccolò Overnighter, The Galilei Expandable Tote, The Leonardo Weekender: This inaugural luggage collection is constructed with only first-rate materials and components, the quality and craftsmanship are second to none. Only CCL (250) units of each style will be produced, each numbered individually.
Luxury is that which can be repaired
No corners have been cut. Every stitch is hand-sewn and the holes have been pre-punched, the result is a product that is significantly more durable than machine-stitched alternatives and one that is infinitely repairable. But this is more than just exquisite luggage.
After a quick initial setup, all it takes is a single tap to the Wolf & Maiden logo on the bag and your most recent memory will be captured on the Storyteller App. Snap a memory, tap to bag, store for future. Every tap captures an experience. When the bag is handed over to the next generation, the forebear’s legacy is there to be relived and even recreated.
What that ‘memory’ entails, is up to you, but for a start it will automatically pull the local time, weather, date, and location along with the most recent image snapped and the last played song. A perfect summary of a fleeting moment. Over time, these memories build into a story.
W&M founder, Wade Ross Skinner: ‘Our Storytellers concept, presented in the Renaissance Collection, is the culmination of a decade of starting, growing, and redefining Wolf & Maiden. What the pandemic allowed was the time to reflect on and return to my ‘why’, which is to connect generations through cherished heirlooms. Our response as a brand, is that we now exist at the fulcrum of craft and technology, giving our beautiful, functional, natural and repairable artefacts a voice, and in doing have positioned the product as the portal to the past.
‘With my own son (the star of our campaign) recently turning two, the essence of legacy and heritage is even more evident for me to see.
‘I’ve been lucky to work on this campaign with wonderfully talented people, who also happen to be friends. Kim, our Creative Director, was my neighbour at my very first W&M store. Stan and Rory are close friends who have shot every one of my campaigns from day one. Stan shooting stills, and Rory doing video. And Albert, a wonderfully talented new friend. ‘I invite you all to join us as we take this next evolutionary step on the mission to connect generations through future heirlooms.’
Wolf & Maiden Company History
It began as a nugget of divine inspiration in Wade Ross Skinner’s curious mind following a chance encounter on his travels in India.
Twice, on opposite ends of this sprawling subcontinent, he crossed paths with the same mysterious French leathersmith. Twice, he assisted the man with food and shelter. In return, The Frenchman fashioned him an intricate leather tobacco pouch with an almost mystical reverie.
Reflecting on the serendipity of this unexpected rendezvous upon his return to Cape Town, Wade began to teach himself the art of leathercraft.
Armed with an ethos of sustainable elegance and a passion-charged penchant for timeless beauty, Wolf & Maiden is the future of legacies past. Crafting heritage. Connecting generations.
The Kickstarter Campaign Team
Directing Duo: Rory Allen and Stan Kaplan
Editors: Alex Smit Vfx / Wilfred De La Querra Vo / Uni V. Sol Screenplay / Albert Pretorius
Creative Direction: Kim Terri Bergen
Follow the Kickstarter Campaign
