Besotted with Bussetto

It’s hard to believe Milan-based leather goods brand Il Bussetto has only been around since 2004, it feels like it should be much longer given the aura of heritage the brand exudes.

Il Bussetto is Italian for a traditional tool that craftsmen used to polish leather. Their aim is to preserve the time-honoured tradition of Italian leather goods manufacturing, a driving force that inspired them to start-up the business.

My first incarnation with the brand was when I discovered their natty accessories in London menswear store Oscar Milo in Avery Row – the men’s zipped wallets in particular.

A few years down the line and one of their signature men’s coin purses, buffed so perfectly I could almost see my reflection in it, arrived through the post. As if that wasn’t enough, Il Bussetto had kindly monogrammed it for me. They know me too well.

Slightly perfecting on an age-old Tuscan artisan technique, all leather goods are crafted from a single piece of wet leather, which is melded on to wooden forms to produce seemless objects – the molds for the coin purses are a surreal cross between an old age penioner’s denture and a sea anemone.

Sourcing bovine leather from only the finest farms in Europe, it is then vegetable-tanned in Tuscany using natural tannins extracted from plants, mixed according to a secret formula.

This tanning procedure allows the transformation of raw leather into an environmentally-friendly, compact and resistant material with unique and inimitable features. It is only after the cutting phase that the leather is then hand-painted by local craftsmen. Once dried and polished the leather is finally waxed.

Drawing upon the expertise of several generations of local artisans knowledge, Il Bussetto are able to create unique products which, unaffected by time and fashion trends, become part of your everyday life . My coin purse sits so ergonomically and unobtrusively in my trouser pocket that I for one feel underdressed if I haven’t got it with me.

The brand have expanded their range to include elegant time pieces,
i-phone cases and most recently some natty eyewear. We’ve got our eye on these nifty foldable sunnies, the perfect travel companion for the globe-trotting man.