Aspinal of London

Aspinal occupies a smart middle ground: genuine luxury leather goods without the very top-tier price tag. It is a British designer, manufacturer and retailer of luxury leather goods founded in 2001, and its structured handbags have earned a polished, classic reputation. If you want an investment-feel bag that reads as understated British luxury, it is a considered choice.

A signature handbag is the natural starting point. Aspinal launched its first handbag, The Paris Bag, in 2007, the same year it opened its first retail location in Selfridges, and structured leather bags have been its calling card ever since. A classic top-handle style is the cleanest way into the house's aesthetic.

The Midi Mayfair is the one with a royal following. The Duchess of Cambridge first carried the Aspinal of London Midi Mayfair bag in 2013 and has since carried it on several occasions in both black and lilac, and she has also worn the Beulah x Aspinal of London clutch more than once. That patronage has done a great deal for the brand's profile.

Aspinal of London was founded in London in 2001 by Iain Burton. Before it became a handbag name, the company supplied leather accessories to the gift shops of museums such as the National Gallery, the Louvre and the Vatican. That museum-shop beginning is an unusual and rather charming origin for a luxury label.

It is a British designer, manufacturer and retailer of luxury leather goods and accessories. The range grew from leather accessories into handbags from 2007, and has since extended into men's pieces, including the 2018 Aerodrome collection with David Gandy of leather backpacks, business bags and travel accessories. Leather craft sits at the centre of everything it offers.

Its head office is in Fernhurst, Midhurst, in West Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park. The brand leans into that countryside identity, supporting the South Downs National Park Trust and even keeping about twenty beehives that produce more than 1,000 jars of organic honey a year. It also sponsors the Midhurst Town Cup polo competition.

In 2018, after a successful capsule collaboration, Aspinal appointed Giles Deacon as design director to work alongside Mariya Dykalo. That year also produced the Giles x Aspinal collection of handbags. The hire signalled the brand's intent to sharpen its design credentials alongside its established leather craftsmanship.

Aspinal opened its first flagship store on Brook Street in Mayfair, London, in 2010, and added a concession in Harrods in 2013, which moved to a larger double boutique within Harrods' Arcade in August 2020. It opened its first store in Shanghai in November 2019 and launched its first US wholesale partnership with Barneys New York in 2018. Authorised stores like these are your safest route.

Several, often with a charitable angle. In 2016 it collaborated with Chinese actress and singer Yang Mi on a limited-edition Trunk Clutch, with proceeds supporting the One Foundation, and it has produced an Elizabeth Hurley bag for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and a Beulah x Aspinal clutch for the UN Blue Heart Campaign. These partnerships have helped widen the brand's reach.

Quite deliberately. Its Shanghai store, opened in 2019, was inspired by the UK flagship in London's Regent Street St James's, designed to encapsulate Aspinal's English heritage brand signatures. Combined with its South Downs head office and polo sponsorship, the brand consistently frames itself around an English country-luxury identity.