We’ve all seen the Google Chrome advert showing us how the Cambridge Satchel Company started and I’d love to say, tut, it was all just a marketing ploy to target our good nature, but no its all true ! Julie Deane, the lady in the ad, founded The Cambridge Satchel Company in 2008 at her kitchen table just outside Cambridge. Having invested just £600 to get the idea off the ground, The Cambridge Satchel Company is now a pioneering business employing more than 90 people and experiencing phenomenally fast growth around the world.
The company is genuinely committed to preserving British manufacturing and in 2011 set up their first factory based in Leicester, employing many locally skilled craftsmen and women. 2 years on and the company has now moved premises to a new factory, still based just outside Leicester and the company also continues to support independent UK based manufacturers who help meet the ever-growing demand.
Whilst the traditional Vintage and Red Satchels remain the firm favourites among customers, the company has kept the design fresh by adding many modern twists to the original such as the fluorescent colours and contemporary leather finishes. Collaborations with Comme des Garcon, Basso and Brooke and Christopher Shannon have seen their bags grace the catwalk in London, New York, Paris and Russia.
And so for Winter 2013 and one of the most the most iconic of British Fashion designers,Vivienne Westwood has teamed up with the brand to design and produce an exclusive collection of limited edition collector’s bags. Inspiration for this classic satchel is taken from Westwood’s infamous pirate boots first seen in her 1981 Collection entitled ‘Pirate’. The pale tan straps and buckles introduced on the satchel replicate the ones used on Vivienne Westwood’s pirate boots. For the legendary Pirate collection, Westwood and McLaren weaved a fantasy with swashbuckling clothes and highwaymen, dandies, buccaneers and pirates. It was for this collection that the Squiggle print was first used.
