Ever since humans have needed to cart around their belongings – particularly tools – they’ve carried bags. Prehistoric rock art in northern Australia, for example, shows a warrior-like figure with a satchel over his arm. The 5,300-year-old mummy of Otzi the Ice Man, carried a backpack – and wore a pouch attached to a leather belt – on his journey through what are now called the Tyrolean Alps. Ancient Roman soldiers carried satchels made from leather or goat’s hide that look almost exactly like the kind of messenger bag you might see in a shop today. 

In some ways, these bags are a far cry from the expensive “it” bags you see being carried today. In other ways, they’re not so different at all – each of those early bags will have been skilfully crafted by hand, an approach that still underpins many modern luxury handbags.

One of the main threads that runs through the history of handbags – and persists even in today’s industrialised economy – is the power of craftsmanship. This belief in the value of a bag made by experts steeped in experience has held sway ever since handbags became more than a practical necessity. Today, the heart of this artisanal trade in handbags, as it has been for decades, is Italy. 

Looking over the colourful harbour of Palermo, Sicily, Studio Sarta is one of some 4,500 leather businesses in the country. Established in 2017 by siblings Giorgia and Fabio Gaeta, it is also one of the country’s newer handbag companies. Much of the studio’s approach is modern, too. Studio Sarta’s handbags are chic and elegant, featuring clean lines and a contemporary aesthetic. Their business sense is equally up-to-date. Their Instagram , which features striking shots of their products modelled against moody landscapes and industrial-chic interiors, is one main aspect of their marketing strategy. 

But the foundation of that Sarta style is traditional Italian craftsmanship. Their creations use Vienna straw, a traditional material used in Sicilian bag-making, handwoven by local artisans in Palermo, as well as leather sourced from Tuscan tanneries. 

“Studio Sarta was born from the idea of developing contemporary design objects both for the person and the house – not just bags – that use the know-how of our local artisans,” says Giorgia. “The Italian tradition of tailoring and craftsmanship is one of the fundamental elements.”

In fact, every step of the process – from design to prototype to production – is done by hand. At the Tuscan tannery, workers clean the raw hides, then tumble them in a giant tanning barrel with vegetable-based dyes – a process that can be as much as five times more time-consuming than industrial tanning, but which cuts out many chemicals and toxins. 

“It is hand-dried and buffed entirely by hand to obtain the characteristic aged effect,” Giorgia says. “The ‘vegetable tanning’, which has origins in prehistory and in Tuscany is at its maximum splendour, is a traditional and widely recognised technique.” 

When the leather arrives at Studio Sarta, it is cut and sewn together with Vienna straw, according to Giorgia’s designs. 

This blend of craftsmanship and contemporary style has resonated with buyers. In the company’s first year, Studio Sarta sold 200 bags. Now, they sell 1,000 a year. Most of their clients are in Italy, and the UK. In the next few years, they hope to expand to China.

Across Italy, the tradition of leather-making has such deep roots that even many of the country’s major fashion houses got their start with leather, despite being known for a plethora of different products today. 

Prada began as a leather goods store in Milan in 1913; Gucci, a leather goods store in Florence in 1921; Ferragamo, a leather shoe store in Florence in 1927; Bottega Veneta, a leather goods store in Vicenza in 1966. In the 1970s, even Roberto Cavalli, best known today for his sand-blasted jeans and vibrant, wild prints, first made a name for himself by inventing and patenting a procedure for printing on leather.

“You think about the story of the handbag, and you think about Gucci 100 years ago,” says Riccardo Braccialini, chief executive of the international bags and leather goods fair Mipel. “We have a tradition.”

“But,” he adds, “the real movement came after the Second World War.”

Before that, handbags were manufactured in several areas: around Frankfurt, ; Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, ; and parts of England. But after the war, as fashion became industrialised, there was a need to make products at scale. And to do that, it was best to have all of the necessary components – from fabric manufacturers to designers to distributors – in one place. Italy was that place.

By the 1960s, benefiting from their booming economy and from the fact that their goods were cheaper than those made in other parts of Europe, Italians had become “the most powerful force in the market”, says New York Times European style correspondent Elizabeth Paton.

That was boosted by the Italian tradition of artisanship – one that continues today. 

“‘Made in Italy’ is one of the most powerful brand names in the world. It has a global cachet,” Paton says. “That reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and design has made Italy, until now, the beating heart of luxury manufacturing.”

But in today’s industrialised world, can that tradition continue?

Even so, artisanship isn’t likely to disappear from Italy’s handbag industry anytime soon. 

Some of that is thanks to Italy’s big brands themselves, many of whom depend on handbags and accessories to keep their profit margins high: one report by Deloitte found that handbags and accessories were the fastest-growing part of the luxury market aside from perfumes and makeup. It’s no surprise that these same brands have popularised the concept of the “it” bag. 

In the 1950s, major fashion houses like Chanel began to make what are now iconic bespoke handbags. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s, though, that the trend exploded. In the 1980s, Hermès introduced the Birkin bag and Prada its nylon backpack; in the 1990s came the Fendi Baguette, Christian Dior’s Lady Dior, Balenciaga’s The City, and a relaunch of Gucci’s Jackie bag. And compared with other trends, the values of some of these “it” bags have endured: in 2017, an Hermès Birkin bag sold at auction for HKD2.9 million (£284,000). 

But many labels recognise that it isn’t just the branding that is important to consumers, but the craftsmanship too. In fact, in some cases, people want something more than an “it” bag. “The truly wealthy, the real millionaires, they will not want to buy LV Louis Vuitton or Gucci because they are too commonplace,” Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, told CNBC back in 2012. “Rich people are getting richer and they want exclusiveness and more self-indulgence.”

And few products are more exclusive, of course, than something hand-crafted or bespoke.

As a result, some major fashion houses are investing in manufacturing schools in Italy to help train new generations to craft bags by hand. This is also a necessity so that they can keep up with growing demand. By value, the biggest importers of Italian leather goods are Switzerland (an international hub that then ships many products out to other countries), and the US – followed by Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. 

China is ninth. But its demand for Italian leather goods is growing fastest of all. The country’s market for these products has increased in value by 21.3% and in quantity by 18.8% year-on-year. Already, the country is the world’s second-biggest market for luxury goods worldwide.

But there’s an irony at the centre of Asia’s demand: despite its appetite for Italian handbags, it produces an extraordinary number of its own. The difference? Asia’s tend to be mass-produced… and far more affordable.

In fact, there are so many Asian handbags, at such seductive prices, that even Italians buy them – lots of them. From January to October 2018, 123 million kg of leather goods entered Italy from abroad. Almost 60% were from China. 

In of value, these goods paled in comparison to what Italy was sending out. The average price of the imports was €21.42 (£18.74) per kg; Italy’s outgoing goods cost €134.19 (£117.37) per kg. Still, the convenience and cost of these imports are yet another challenge for Italy’s handbag makers.

“Globalisation has really put pressure on the traditional Italian market, particularly that boom in cheap foreign labour from close by, like eastern Europe, to further afield – India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam. That’s lured many companies, including luxury brands, into moving abroad,” Paton says. “Luxury is still a really big deal for Italy – it’s 5% of GDP and employs half a million people – but these changes have really put a lot of pressure on the country.”