Featured Case Studies
Case Study 01
The Executive
Tote
A deep look at the design decisions, material choices, and systems thinking behind the signature piece of our first collection.
Materials
Veg-tan leather
Hardware
Antique brass
Made in
Small-batch atelier
The Brief
"Design a bag that works as hard as the woman who carries it, without asking her to compromise on elegance."
Ingrid asked women in senior leadership one question: what does your bag fail to do? The answers were consistent. Beautiful bags were structurally weak. Functional bags were visually heavy. The interior was always an afterthought.
The Executive Tote was designed to solve each of these problems through systems thinking applied to craft.
Design Decisions
Every choice has a reason.
01
The Silhouette
A trapezoidal form drawn from Danish modernist proportion: wider at the base, stable under load, generous without bulk.
02
The Interior System
Three distinct zones: a document flat, a tech compartment, a personal essentials pocket. Each sized to its purpose.
03
The Hardware
Antique brass chosen for longevity. It develops a patina with use, making each bag more personal over time.
04
The Leather
Vegetable-tanned leather that stiffens and molds with use, becoming more itself, not less, as years pass.
The Process
From concept
to pattern
to production.
Research
User interviews, competitive analysis, materials sourcing
Concept
Sketches, proportional studies, silhouette refinement
Pattern
Technical pattern development, seam allowances, hardware placement
Prototype
First cut in muslin, then leather. Iterate until resolved.
Production
Small-batch manufacturing with vetted atelier partners
"The pattern is where the design becomes real. Everything you decided in concept is tested against the reality of material and construction."
Ingrid Chikazaza Chitekwe
Want to learn how to design like this?
The knowledge behind these pieces is teachable. Ingrid shows you how.