Imagine, if you will, a canvas tote bag. You know the one I’m talking about. Vertical, rectangular, in an unbleached off-white cotton canvas with two functional and generous handles. Perhaps a print on one side, and most importantly: unfettered space within. It’s a brilliant accessory, its simplicity only matched by the impossibly vast range of people who use it. It’s the unpretentious student bag for business and art school types. It’s the unfussy workbag of millennial creatives. It’s the treat-without-care tote for everyone else lugging stuff around.

Now imagine that that humble item has been given the most luxurious twist imaginable. And the outré hallmarks of luxury here are inappropriate. Exotic skins, gold hardware, and the like are incompatible with the spirit of the tote. What is far more suitable and incredibly becoming, are the artisanal flourishes that Loewe have imparted upon this silhouette.

Ribbons tote in cotton and calfskin, SGD5390; Botanical and Diver totes in cotton and calfskin, SGD3690.

Tartan tote in wool and calfskin, SGD4450; Fishes tote in cotton and calfskin, SGD3690; Window tote in canvas and calfskin, SGD3150.

Geometric tote in cotton and calfskin, SGD3490; Dégradé tote in mohair, wool and calfskin, SGD3150; Silhouettes tote in wool and calfskin, SGD3690.

As part of its Salone del Mobile 2018 collection, presented in Milan, the Spanish leather goods house has created a range of special edition totes that borrow from the skill of traditional craftsman around the world.

Craft is a longstanding focus and ethos of Jonathan Anderson’s wildly successful tenure at Loewe. And here, the application is a beautiful marriage of that modus with the house’s production of beautifully-conceived bags. After a brief debacle with Diet Prada regarding the house’s uncredited use of traditional Ecuadorian prints, the house has taken a more tactful approach in actually approaching these very craftsman to create and contribute to these goods. And these sources range from Ecuador, Togo, India, Germany, Italy, and (naturally) Spain.

Vertical Tote Macramé in calfskin, SGD3690.

But if all these craft-intensive pieces strike too colourful a note for your tastes, I’d like to point your attention towards the season’s runway variant. Made in the house’s signature supple calfskin, the lightweight bags feature hanging disks and contrast the trimming. One of the former of which is subtly stamped with the brand’s ‘L’ logo, and the latter a handmade macramé merino wool carefully trimmed around the bag.