Of a Kind

Clare Vivier is making her trademark Tropézienne bag in a canvas-leather combo now. We experienced this thing in person, and, lemme tell you, you should, too. —erica

Sara Makes Us a Totes Amazing Tote

There’s bleach. There’s leather. There’s a whole lot of radness.

Sara Gates makes the sort of bags you’ll use until they start coming apart at the seams. Thankfully, her handcrafted Cook & Gates creations are damn sturdy, and each piece is unique: She dyes and bleaches the canvas with her very own hands. Here, she shares how her Of a Kind edition came together.

You’re going to want to check out the finished product. There are only 30 bags, and each one is something special.


“It starts with a big piece of canvas. For this, I used a heavyweight black canvas, and I folded it, bent it, and wrapped it in our special method. One of the things that drew me to dyeing is that it’s so hard to create exact replicas. This bag is bleached—I soak it and pour the bleach into the fabric. It happens very quickly.”


“The whole pieces of canvas are so amazing! If I could sell giant pieces of fabric, I would.”


“I have an amazing seamstress. She sews the bags and sews the handle on. I couldn’t get away from the screen-printing—I had to bring that in—so we do our screen-printed pocket in all of our bags.”


“This bag has leather handles—I’ve only started working with leather recently. This is a half hide. I get the leather from a place in Manhattan called Global Leathers. They have such amazing stuff. Leather stores are just crazy places.”

A Case for…Sophisticated Canvas

Hey, everybody! It’s summer, season of the boat tote. And as easy as it is to love a big ol’ bag, canvas should not be relegated to farmers’ market outtings or trips to the Cape. The material has gotten pretty polished lately, and it’s time to expand your horizons with these four just-fancy-enough pieces that still have plenty of ease. —erica

1) Twenty8Twelve Daisy dress: The hot coral color screams movie (and Solo-cup rosé) in the park.
2) Adam canvas sailor pants: Because high-waisted and wide-leg feels pretty right-now.
3) Katherine Fleming Betty canvas/leather zip clutch: Look! It even plays well with other materials.
4) F-Troupe canvas saddle shoe: Proof that a canvas lace-up can be made to look fancy—no offense, Keds.

I’ve been a fan of Generic Surplus for some time, but their newest designs that so adeptly marry canvas and suede have made me a full-blown groupie. —erica

In grade school, I thought that the Patagonia coat with a zip-out fleece lining was basically the most genius fashion innovation ever. This washed-canvas Folk jacket employs the same, ahem, technology but is so much more stunning. —erica