Australian leather accessory brand, Truso, has added limited-edition totes to its handmade range.
The bags are all designed and made by Truso founder, Liz Brown, who felt the need to expand her collection after having her first child. To create the totes she paints a repeated motif onto the pocket of the bag, making each one unique.
“I found some time towards the end of last year to experiment with my hand-painted designs and my tote range,” she says. “Previous to that the wallets and their success had really consumed much of my time.
“Since the arrival of my daughter I really had the drive to expand the range so I could work from home full time.”
Brown started Truso in 2008, when she returned to Australia after living abroad for two years. Before her overseas adventure she had had some success selling handbags made from her collection of vintage fabrics at markets but was eager to do something different.
“I really wanted to move away from soft textiles and into leather to create a label that focused on longevity in a product, a luxury item, and that really emphasised my bright and quirky design aesthetic,” she says.
Using longwearing leather reflects her business ethos, which is “to sustainably source and to ethically create a long-lasting product”.
Making is in the family for Brown; her grandfather owned a lingerie label that operated out of a small factory in Sydney in the 1950s, called Trousseau’s Treasures. Although the label was eventually sold to a department store, taking the name out of the family, Brown named her brand in homage to her history.
“Truso is the phonetic of the French word ‘Trousseau’,” she says. “I thought that a reflection to my design heritage was a nice touch and also makes for a good story.”
All Truso items are handmade in a process that Brown says is labour intensive, requiring precision cutting or stamping, gluing, sewing, clamping and riveting. Because of this it can be difficult to supply stockists with large volumes, but Brown views this as a positive.
“It is due to this that stockists receive a limited-run item, which is very appealing for them to say ‘you won’t find this anywhere else’,” she explains.
Brown says boutique stores that focus on Australian-made and have a passion for handcrafted items would be the best fit for her brand, and she is looking at taking on a staff member to help her keep up with demand while she focuses on expanding the range.
By Ruth Cooper
