About HAROLDS
Companions for a lifetime - our vision
In July 1999, a man visited me. He was passing through. In his mid-fifties, the adventurer type. He had come to show me his bag. An intact leather Harold's bag, one of the first models we made in Colombia. The bag had accompanied him on his travels around the world for the past 15 years. The leather had a unique patina. For the man, the bag seemed to tell the stories of his travels.
We still had this model in our range unchanged. Because he wanted his first bag to serve as a keepsake, the man bought it a second time. While it wasn't quite as unique yet, he said that would change over the course of his upcoming travels. This encounter shaped my vision for Harold's: to design bags sustainably, timelessly, and crafted with the finest craftsmanship.
Third-generation bag making
In 1936, my grandfather Nikolaus Schmelz laid the foundation for Harold's and opened a leather bag factory in Obertshausen. Over the next almost 80 years, we have continually refined our production processes.
My father, Günter Schmelz, has been with the company since 1955. He consistently built long-term collaborations with foreign partners, initially in Italy, and later in Colombia and India. Carefully selected materials, along with craftsmanship and expertise, formed the foundation for our bags.
I, Thilo Schmelz, joined the company in 1999. As a trained architect, I compare a bag to a house people enjoy living in: It is thoughtfully designed in form and function, durable in design and use, and made from authentic materials.
This approach today determines the qualitative and aesthetic appearance of the Harold's brand: constructive, timeless design, first-class craftsmanship and natural leather.
Constructive Questions - Design
During the design process, we continually ask ourselves the following questions: What does the material want? What does the function want? What does the craftsmanship want? How does the bag want to look? How will the bag perform after years of use? By intensively addressing these questions, we succeed in combining functionality with the unique characteristics of natural leather and traditional leatherworking techniques.
This is where the special quality that defines the character of Harold's bags comes from: They can be worn for any occasion – they become more beautiful over time – they tell stories – they adapt to the needs of their wearers – they are understated, yet individual, and the design is timeless.
Bags for a lifetime - Sustainability
For us, a bag is sustainable when it is durable and brings joy to its wearer for many years. To achieve this, we work intensively on the durability of the materials, the quality of the craftsmanship, and the timelessness of our designs. We carefully coordinate these various components in the production of bags, because each individual link determines the quality of our
The longer and more intensively our products are used, the better their ecological footprint is – a result that
our customers appreciate.
This is where the special quality that defines the character of Harold's bags comes from: They can be worn for any occasion – they become more beautiful over time – they tell stories – they adapt to the needs of their wearers – they are understated, yet individual, and the design is timeless.
Leather tells stories - Material
Leather is a natural product – expressive and vital.
We use high-quality, robust leather for our bags with a
Balanced fiber structure and material thickness. These arise exclusively as byproducts of food production. It is important to us to preserve the quality of this natural material. The leather is tanned using plant-based substances, remains open-pored, and undergoes gentle post-processing.
This is how our products acquire their unique feel and develop their individual aesthetics with use. Wearing them leaves unmistakable marks that make the bags unique. Each of them tells its own story, which is connected to its owner.
connects.
For our cotton fabrics, we rely on organic yarns. The weaving is carried out according to our own recipes in Germany.
to produce particularly tear- and abrasion-resistant fabrics.
Know-how we share - Crafts
Harold's looks back on a nearly 80-year tradition of manufacturing top-quality, durable bags. We achieve this by sharing our expertise. The design and development of our products, as well as the production of a select range, takes place in our factory in Obertshausen, Germany. We entrust our experience with natural leathers to our long-standing partners in India and Colombia.
Regular on-site exchange and analysis of local craftsmanship guarantee the best possible implementation of our design ideas.
With mutual respect and trust, we work together toward our vision: to create bags that are sustainable, timeless, and crafted with the finest craftsmanship.
PRODUCTION FACILITIES
