This Case Study spotlights our expert stitching team. The bag is collapsing and lost its shape most likely due to putting too much weight and volume inside, which wasn’t intended when the bag was designed, and it now requires restructuring. The Galleria bag as a classic Prada model, originally released in 2007. It was named after Miuccia Prada opened his first store in Milan in 1913 “Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II”
Made up of Saffiano Leather the bag comes in various colours and is a regular we see come in for aftercare. Saffiano Leather is a calf leather with a wax cross-hatch print across it and a wax finish, making the leather water-resistant. To learn more about different leathers why not read our feature ‘A Lesson In Leather’.
Starting with an assessment the team could see that the bag had collapsed and lost its shape. To repair this we need to create and insert a new structure to support it. The artisan needed to create a pattern for the front and back of the body as well as the gussets. The approach for this is to open the bag without removing any original stitching, this can be done through the lining.
The artisan began by creating the patterns from the front and the back of the body of the bag. A sample was used to check the material that would be inserted into the lining was appropriate for the bag.
Once the sample had been checked the whole pattern was created. The pattern was drawn out by hand and cut and glued into the inside of the bag to bring back the original shape of the design. Once the reinforcement is securely glued into the bag it is ready to be stitched back up.
The bag has now regained its shape and style and is ready to be loved again. It is common for bags to start to lose their structure if they are overfilled when in use or they are not stored correctly. If you’d like to learn more about how to protect your items when storing them away follow our 10 Step Guide.
We have developed unique capabilities and techniques, to learn more about the infinite possibilities read 10 Things You Didn’t Know We Could Do. If you’d like expert care and need to repair your shoes and bags, simply Book A Collection.
