We are talking about women whose closets are bursting with Chanels, Hermes Kellys and Birkins, Louis Vuittons, Diors and all the other high end luxury hand bags that saturate the market. We are talking about women who don’t need a logo to prove anything. We are talking about women who are looking for understated and sleek design, top quality and recognizable to only like-minded sophisticates.
In an exclusive interview we talk with the woman who caters to exacetly these women. Tina Lutz Morris, the face of the new luxury handbags. The German designer talks about her name-sake brand’s DNA, design to after-service, slow fashion, challenges and giving back.
Born in Germany and trained in fashion design and pattern making at Paris’s ESMOD, designer Tina Lutz Morris lived in Tokyo and then New York in the early 90’s to work for Calvin Klein. Later she co-founded Lutz & Patmos, a luxury knitwear brand that had made headlines with famous “guest designer” collaborations. After 24 years in in New York she returned to Germany to follow her passion for artisanship, responsible production, altruism and product design and launched Lutz Morris, a line of German made luxury handbags, that bears the distinctive custom-made frame in 24k gold-plated stainless steel. Today Tina lives & works in Milan, Italy.
Q: Unlike most high-end leather products that are made in Italy or Spain, you chose to produce in Germany?
A: After 24 years in New York, I returned to Germany and discovered the local leather artisans and centuries-old family run businesses. I was impressed by their quality, which is at par with Italy, France or Spain. Since Germany is not known for its leather goods, the artisans are slowly disappearing. I decided to produce Lutz Morris exclusively in Germany to allow the next generation to see a future for themselves in learning the craft and the value of keeping this expertise and heritage alive.
Q: What are the most important pillars of slow fashion & sustainability you champion within your brand’s DNA?
A: The 3 pillars of Lutz Morris are: artisanship, responsible production, and altruism. Responsible production: 95% of our bag components come from Germany. 5% come from nearby Italy and Spain. This allows us to have a minimal carbon footprint. All our leather, hardware and packaging are produced under the strictest EU environmental regulations. Jewelers in the Black Forest create our 24k gold-plated brass chains, hand-soldering each link to create a seamless chain. A 160-year-old German family run business makes our 100% recycled, tear and abrasion resistant sewing thread. We use water-based solvents in our glues and edge paints. In September we transitioned to 100% traceable leather in collaboration with the Danish company SPOOR and our LWG gold certified German tannery to make this happen. Altruism: Giving back has always been important to me and when I started Lutz Morris, I saw a clear path to contributing to EMC (EveryMotherCounts) a dedicated charity preventing maternal mortality worldwide, making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere. EMC was founded in 2010 by my dear friend Christy Turlington Burns. I chose to be concrete and transparent and donate a flat $10 from every bag sold instead of donating an obscure percentage of proceeds. $10 might not sound like a lot, but for some bags this amounts to as much as 10% of the proceeds.
Q: With a very distinct product design DNA what are the difficulties of creating new collections every season?
A: We stopped designing seasonal collections two years ago. Instead, I prefer to work with new design drops throughout the year. When I have an idea for a new bag or color, we develop it and launch it when it is ready. This approach gives us more flexibility and is more sustainable, as it prevents oversampling.
Q: How much do you follow trends when designing a new collection?
A: Even before having my own bag company, I always stayed away from trends and it-bags as they have a short lifespan. I challenge myself to design classic bags, as I believe that bags should last for a lifetime and not just for a season.
Q: The Lutz Morris bestseller?
A:Our Parkers! We have four different size versions of the Parker. We have some dedicated Parker-fan customers who own them in every color.
Q: The accessory market is a very competitive one. How are you staying ahead of the competition?
A: My priority is to stay true to my vision and aesthetic. I love being informed about the trends, but don’t follow them.
Q: The biggest challenge of an independent luxury company in todays retail world?
A: The biggest challenge is to compete with the big luxury brands who have it seems unlimited budgets to make noise. These brands keep raising their prices to finance their advertising, shows, stores and collaborations. At Lutz Morris I believe in honest margins and honest pricing, which allows me to offer products in comparable quality and craftmanship to the big brands, but at a more competitive price. I also don’t not believe in sales. Which is why our products never go on sale.
Q: Describe your customer.
A: Lutz Morris is for those who are looking for a connection with the things they choose to bring into their lives. They don’t want everything. They want a few of the right things, made consciously and with purpose. It’s about curation and intention, buying luxury for the quality, the beauty and the longevity. They are buying less, but buying better.
Q: Tell us about the made-to-order service.
A: We do not oversample or overproduce to avoid for any finished products to be destroyed or wasted. Which is why we offer a limited color assortment for each bag style. We had many loyal customers who were in love with a certain bag and wanted it in different colors than offered. Therefore we launched our made-to-order bag program. It allows customers to have an exclusive bag made in a specific color from our catalogue.
Q: How do you see the growth of Lutz Morris in the next coming few years?
A: We just moved our office and showroom from Berlin to Milan. We always wanted to have an international showroom to welcome buyers, press and customers and Milan is the right place for us. We will be hosting our first Milan Fashion Week in February and are looking forward to showing our new space and designs.
Q: Afterservice has become a vital yet often dissatisfying component of luxury retail. What do you offer your clients.?
A: We want every Lutz Morris creation to last for generations, not just seasons. We understand that accidents can happen, which is why we offer refurbishing and repairing services to make this mission possible.
Shop Lutz Morris handbags online at www.lutzmorris.com and in our region at Human&Beings, UAE.
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