Each Valextra handbag is a product of beauty and outstanding craftsmanship, and here CEO Xavier Rougeaux talks about the company’s constant search for perfection and what makes the handbags unique.

Founded by Giovanni Fontana in 1937, Valextra is one of Italy’s most renowned and discerning leather goods brands. Taking inspiration from its hometown of Milan, Valextra’s handbags and luggage encapsulate its commitment to engineering beauty to conceive meaningful everyday objects of desire.

From the iconic Tric Trac wristbag, first conceived in 1968, to the Iside handbag that arrived in 2011, preservation and innovation are symbiotic in Valextra’s approach to craft and construction. Signature details, such as the black lacquered Costa edging; the fine, handpainted Inchiostro lines; and our famous shade of Pergamena white have endured as discreet yet distinctive signatures that make Valextra recognisable around the world.

History of brand

The name Valextra is made up of the words Valigeria – meaning luggage in Italian – and Extra, resulting in a moniker of lively excellence. It also stands for “Value Extra”, the promise of going above and beyond overcoming any fracture between an individual and their personal belongings.

Engineering excellence

Every Valextra product fuses beauty with function: nothing is merely decorative, every detail has a pragmatic meaning, realised with elegance. Through urban craftmanship, we design objects of beauty for daily life and are committed to achieving this through the most sustainable means.

Pergamena leather

The process gives the leather a unique tonality of white, very similar to original writing scrolls and parchment (which translates to Pergamena in Italian).

Pergamena has become the most iconic Valextra shade and the most elegant of white hues among any other leather goods “Pergamena” leather, used during the 1930s for luggage, is a skin of lamb, sheep, goat or calf after it is treated with a special technique that makes it thin, rigid and resistant.

Black Inchiostro ink

After the leather is raw cut, Valextra adds its unique finishing: the black Inchiostro ink on the edge of every cut piece of leather. It’s a handpainted signature on every object to make it functionally beautiful. The leather is first flattened using heat, then a coat of ink is manually applied. While painting this edge, there is no room for mistakes. Therefore, only the most talented artisans can achieve that continuous line of craftsmanship.

The Unique Code

Each Valextra handbag and piece of luggage has its own unique code that relates to the bag and the artisan who made it. It’s a hallmark of our proudly Italian craft and a bespoke ode to its production.