In town to introduce Valextra’s new bespoke service, executive director Marco Scarpella tells Dana Koh that only the truly exclusive will do for the seriously discerning.
"This clutch only comes in black, but for you, you can choose any colour, material and detailing that you want,” Marco Scarpella tells Kim Lim assuringly. The executive director of Italian luxury leather brand Valextra has made a special trip from Milan to personally introduce the brand’s new bespoke service that launched in Singapore. And Kim Lim is a key representative of this generation’s increasingly savvy and discerning customer—one who rightfully seeks utmost exclusivity.
This special offering is available at just three of its overseas locations—Singapore, Japan and New York. Its flagship in Milan, however, has been taking such orders for the past 78 years. A true hallmark of the Valextra brand, “bespoke” started long before an actual service was named after it. Founder Giovanni Fontana used to spend at least two hours every day in his Milan boutique at 1 Piazza San Babila where he observed and listened to client requests. A Valextra creation was literally a trophy of sorts, what with customers asking for commemorative bags fashioned with the animal hides from the success of their hunts on safari.
Today, the option of bespoke isn’t as exotic as it once was, though no less luxurious and, sustainably sourced. Undeniably, the derived value of a custom Valextra creation still increases manifold with the inclusion an individual’s personal taste, touch and style. Scarpella says: “From a selection of 13 designs, you get to decide the material and colour combinations from a wide array of skins like classic soft calf leather to ostrich, lizard and shiny alligator; and 26 shades spanning brights, pastels and neutrals.
“Each creation is then completed with your preferred thread colour for stitching, metallic hardware and the colour of the ‘Costa’ lacquered piping. You can further personalise this with the embossing of your initials that can be realised through tone-on-tone, in gold or silver colours, making your Valextra piece unmistakably one of a kind.”
Customised for the customer and crafted by in-house master artisans in Italy, these bags take three to six months to finish. In a world of mass luxury, the difference between a product of the finest quality and a bespoke creation is being able to have the last word, which is, truly, a luxury in itself.
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