Q1.-Why use natural vegetable tanned leather?

Vegetable-tanned leather is cowhide that can antiseptic, which tanning agents are extracted from natural plants. Vegetable-tanned leather not only is environmentally friendly and has a long history but also has a sophisticated process during leather making. These properties make vegetable-tanned leather the top quality among all other genuine leather, which also raises its price, so the penetration rate for vegetable-tanned leather is far lower compared with other mass-produced chrome-tanned leather. In addition, the firm and erect characteristics of vegetable-tanned leather coincide perfectly with the Smollism design concept, creating a three-dimensional standing structure by folding. Moreover, the way it truly presents leather texture and environmental friendliness is also consistent with the initial intention of Smollism, this is why Studio Smoll insists on using natural vegetable-tanned leather imported from Italy.

Q2.-Why promote self-assembly leather goods?

Apart from it is very interesting to explore the process of seeing a two-dimensional leather flat leather piece stand up into a three-dimensional bag structure. Smollism believes leather goods should have the properties of reassembling and reuse. Meaning all Studio Smoll products can be maintained and renovated by replacing new leather pieces. Achieve environmental-friendly by cherishing and reduce abandonment; creating more interaction and deeper understanding between leather goods and human beings.

Q3.-Will the absence of stitching and adhesive affect the durability of the bag?

Studio Smoll designed an innovative incision allowing leather goods to shape without stitching nor adhesive. This incision has now obtained patents from the United States, the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, China, and etc. Studio Smoll has also won numerous prizes for the novelty in design, including the recognized from the 2020 German iF design award. The exclusive incision design is made by columns of cuts that are staggered on a leather piece. The design not only can fully retain the toughness of vegetable-tanned leather, and can also guide the right process during assembly. While the durability has been proved on the various bags sold in the past few years.

Q4.-What if I am not good at self-assembly?

Studio Smoll designed an innovative incision allowing leather goods to shape without stitching nor adhesive. This incision has now obtained patents from Taiwan, China, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and etc. Studio Smoll has also won numerous prizes for the novelty in design, including recognition from the 2020 German iF design award. The exclusive incision design is made by columns of cuts that are staggered on a leather piece. The design not only can fully retain the toughness of vegetable-tanned leather, and can also guide the right process during assembly. Moreover, the durability has been proved through the various bags sold in the past few years.

Q5.-Why is the price difference between the finished product and the DIY package?

For orders that didn’t choose the “DIY package” option, we will assemble the bag on your behalf and will maintain the leather bag additional before sending the finished product to you. The leather bag will be put in a dust bag for protection while shipping. Along with the leather bag, the tools kit for assembling and the instruction manual, in use for future maintenance, will also include in the finished product. For these additional services, we will charge additional fees, hope you can enjoy the exquisite quality we provide.

Q6.-Is Smollism leather bags difficult to maintain?

All genuine leather will need to be taken care of once in a while. Regular cleaning and apply leather conditioner gently over the entire bag will greatly extend its lifespan. The concept of Smollism is through folding and threading pieces of leather to transform two-dimensional flat leather pieces into a three-dimensional bag structure. The assemble involves no irreversible process such as applying adhesive nor stitching, which means the bag can always unfold back to a flat piece of leather. This property creates the perfect condition to maintain the leather. Wiping gently on the piece to clean and apply leather conditioner with no dead ends. Furthermore, when you unfolded the leather, the piece is as if you see an exquisite painting, by bits and pieces recording your unique colors in life.