Archipel Paris - Seamless leather bags
Industrial designer Sébastien Cordoleani, founder and creator of the Archipel brand, had a richly experienced career before bringing this handcrafted project to life.
Trained in industrial design at ENSAAMA and ENSCI, he began his career in agencies, notably with Andrée Putman, after winning the Prix de la Ville de Paris in 2005. In 2007, Sébastien Cordoleani co-founded a studio around the Matière à penser project, which won the Design Parade Grand Prix and the Audi Talents Awards. In 2008, he took up a residency at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto, where he developed a keen interest in natural materials and their associated crafts.
"This residency enabled me to explore a wide range of craft skills (bamboo, glass, textiles, earth, steel...)."
It was in 2015, with this approach turned towards artisanal trades, that the designer founded the Archipel brand and conceived a modality for the creation/production of a bag made from a simple sheet of leather, folded and held in shape by the handle.
"When I created my first seamless leather bag, I founded the Archipel brand, supported by ADC and the Banque Populaire Foundation, before moving to the Villa du Lavoir in Paris's 10th arrondissement."
Archipel is a brand born of a discipline: seamless, vegetable-tanned leatherwork.
Each piece is designed in two stages, first flat-packed, which facilitates storage in small Parisian spaces, then assembled to order. This logic also makes it easy to dismantle objects for leather care. The designer uses exclusively vegetable-tanned leather, selected for its quality and durability.
"Seamlessness is both a technical constraint and a creative driving force. It generates a singular formal style and gives the brand a strong, recognizable identity".
The workshop where Archipel bags are made is located in an area historically linked to leather, which is a real resource.
"My suppliers are all less than a kilometer away."
The Archipel brand joined the Fabriqué à Paris label in 2018, and is one of the first Parisian workshops to benefit from it.
"It's an important recognition for local, artisanal and committed work. It embodies a certain ethic of proximity and rootedness in the territory."
Practical information
Atelier Archipel-Paris 70 Rue René Boulanger, 4A Villa du Lavoir, 75010 Paris
On sale in France and abroad
