Yves Saint Laurent founded his namesake fashion house in 1961. Saint Laurent gained reputable experience with the house of Dior with his first job being Dior’s design assistant which he subsequently took over as creative director when Christian Dior died in 1957. With his namesake brand, Saint Laurent changed the face of fashion with his fearless design approach and the aim to empower women with his clothes. He celebrated gender fluidity that shook the fashion industry and took traditional masculine items and transforming them into epic power suits for women.
Since then, numerous people have interpreted the Saint Laurent brand such as Alber Elbaz, Tom Ford and Hedi Slimane who famously stripped the ‘Yves’ from the brand. Now lead by Anthony Vacarrello who brings a fresh outlook to the label.
The Sac de Jour, created by Hedi Slimane, is said to be a modern take on the Birkin. It quickly became an ‘IT-bag’ due its practical nature and its minimal yet stylish look. In an array of colours and the option of 4 different sizes, it’s the perfect everyday companion making the sac de jour the sac for life.
This particular fuchsia pink Sac de Jour came to us in seemingly perfect condition, until upon assessment our team noticed a deep scratch across the front of it. After a physical assessment the team discovered the bag is made from semi-aniline leather. This is a super soft leather that feels very natural due to the less intense coating. Semi-aniline leather is less delicate than aniline leather but fades faster and is more sensitive to stains caused by skin contact. The challenge with this case was to make the scratch invisible, without having to paint the whole front panel in order to preserve its natural texture and look.
First things first, our artisan glued down all the leather that had been pulled up. The leather was pulled in the opposite direction of the scratch and massaged down to ensure the surface was as flat as possible. It was then sanded in the opposite direction to smooth the area down further.
At this point, our artisan observed that there were small pieces of the leather missing. We have a specialised technique we use to fill and conceal severely worn or torn leather. This substance is mixed with some of the pigment used for the colour restoration to ensure the final colour matches the rest of the bag.
Next was to hand mix the right pigments for the colour restoration. This colour, a rich fuchsia, in itself was a challenge to match. In theory, a fully pigmented colour was needed but, as this bag is made from a semi aniline leather and a mix of pigment and dyes its a complex combination. Our artisan decided to mix a fully pigmented colour to work as a first base to conceal the scratch. In this case, the scratched area kept reacting making the colour much darker than intended, which sometimes occurs when the top layer of paint is no longer but colour reactions can be unpredictable.
Having tested different combinations of paints and dyes and different forms of hand application tools, a change of approach was needed to stop the reaction. A fully pigmented colour was mixed to match the original colour and it was applied with an airbrush. This allows several thin layers to be applied that can then be blended seamlessly ensuring the mend is invisible. The bag then had a final layer of finisher applied to match the original finish and the bag can be removed without its scratch and no change to the texture or feel.
Sometimes our results are subtle but make all the difference. Have something on your item that you can’t tend to with a simple clean? Get in touch to request your preliminary quote today for the team to assess and revert with an estimate cost and a breakdown of the services needed to revive your item.
