There are certain bags that are timeless and you honestly want them to last forever. We ensure that we repair or restore your bag so you can fall in love with it all over again and continue to use it, this bag repair is the perfect example showing some of our capabilities with this loved Louis Vuitton.
The Noé bag was designed in 1932 when Gaston-Louis (grandson of founder Louis Vuitton) was asked by a Champagne producer to create a bag that could contain five bottles of champagne. Et voila, what we now know the classic bucket bag perfectly fits four champagne bottles upright and the fifth in the middle and upside down. It has evolved over the years and today is made from monogram coated canvas and leather, with a single adjustable strap with gold-tone buckle, a drawstring fastening and a fabric-lined interior.
After a physical assessment, it was clear this particular Louis Vuitton needed repair and was unable to be used in its current state with the base being completely broken and torn from the body. Our expert team needed to replace the leather base with a new one, honouring the original Louis Vuitton style and keeping the branded side tabs.
To replace the base panel, we needed to remove the original by unpicking the thread while keeping the main body of the bag fully intact. In this case, we could keep the original side tabs as they were still in reasonable condition and embossed with the Louis Vuitton logo.
The first step was to source new leather for the panel. Most Louis Vuitton bags have vegetable-tanned leather for the trims, binding and handles. This leather ages naturally over time creating a patina and darkening its colour. Our expert team sourced new veg-tanned leather with the same quality, colour and thickness of the original piece.
Patterns of the new pieces were measured and cut. The leather is thinned to match the original and a process called skiving is used to thin pieces further enabling them to be folded and stitched together to create the base.
A product is then carefully used to coat the edge of the leather and seal and strengthen it. A few layers are applied and left to dry before they are buffed and polished.
With all the pieces prepped, they are stitched into place to create the base. Louis Vuitton uses a distinguishable yellow thread on many of their leather goods and our team source the perfect match of thread in colour and width honouring the original design of the bag.
Once the base was ready, it needed to be attached to the main body of the bag. The first step is to glue it into the exact position, and then stitch it with the sourced thread.
Repaired, restored and revived, the classic Noe bag is ready to be loved over and over again. To see the full process of replacing the binding on a Louis Vuitton Neverfull just read this Case Study.
If your favourite bag needs expert care but you’re not sure of the services why not look through our Service Finder or Request A Preliminary Quote where our experts will assess the images you upload to our online form.
