Shoulder Charge

The bags of German designer Tina Lutz put local artisans in the frame

- Nils Binnberg

‘The past five years have been like an apprenticeship,’ says Tina Lutz, standing in the sun-filled production hall of a small leather goods factory in the industrial area of Wuppertal, near Düsseldorf in north-western Germany. ‘My background is in tailoring and knitwear, but I was kind of ready to challenge myself.’

After more than 30 years in the fashion business – with stints at Issey Miyake and Calvin Klein on her resumé, and having operated her own fashion label, Lutz Patmos, for 11 years – the German designer launched the accessories label Lutz Morris in 2017 as a small collection of adjustable leather bags in various colours, mounted on thin frames. The original bag design was inspired by a framed leather case Lutz’s husband gave her for Christmas (the name Lutz Morris combines their surnames) – think vintage cigarette case from the 1960s. ‘It was so cool and I thought, I should make bags like this,’ she explains.