Métier’s Melissa Morris on filling the ‘market gap’ for a new luxury leather goods brand

Also on the podcast, Morris discusses her strategies for launching a brand with luxury price points out of the gate and building the brand in the U.K. post-Brexit. In addition, she talks about Métier’s U.S. expansion plans, which include a NYC store and more awareness plays via A-listers. Highlights from the episode, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.

Unlocking Italian craftsmanship

“The first thing I did was find a partner in crime on all things product. The first person to join Métier was Luca Flavi. He is in Italy and oversees all of our craftsmanship, development, production — everything around that. … I design [the product] and come up with the shape, the idea, what I want it to look like and feel like, and how I want it to function, and I sketch it all out, and then I come to him, and we look at it together. It sort of takes another life [after that]. We talk through all of the different [possibilities] for construction — for example, the thickness of different panels of leather becomes really important. [We also consider] all the ways you can infuse artisanal details so that every piece is as lasting as possible, but also lightweight and effortless. First, it took us six months to canvas Italy to find a supplier that could create at the level that we wanted. And second, it took three years to re-engineer how you craft a bag that is functional and yet lightweight, slouchy and luxurious. A lot of traditionally functional products have big, bulky pockets or are made from more traditionally functional materials. But I was really inspired by vintage luxury cars — vintage 911s, in particular. That is a very functional item. … We looked at a lot of ways to bring [our vision] to life with the most thorough luxury hand, because it is challenging. [Luxury craftsmen] are a dying breed, and it is concerning. But I’m really proud that we’re part of a group that’s carrying the torch. And the response from the market shows just how savvy clients are and how much they appreciate real luxury and real quality, and can see through it.”

Quiet luxury remains in demand

“I laugh [when I hear ‘quiet luxury’] because I’m anything but quiet. But it’s the white shirt analogy: When someone’s wearing that perfectly tailored, crisp white shirt, it says a lot. You turn and you look — it’s effortlessly striking. So it’s not quiet; it’s just not screaming. It doesn’t need to scream. And I guess that’s the difference. And I think it’s great. I think clients are really pushing designers not to trade on more obvious tricks, and it’s a welcome breath of fresh air for a lot of designers, even for big houses that feel forced to be using those tricks. And I don’t think it’s going away. I mean, we have the tiniest, non-foiled embossed logo — I can barely see it on a bag — and a client came in the shop and was like, ‘I just can’t have that even there.’ Having absolutely no [brand signifier] is becoming something of itself, and it says something about you in your own way. But nothing that we do is so minimalistic that it doesn’t have a voice or a personality. It has clear brand codes and things that you recognize are Métier. It’s just using design as the signifier, rather than a logo.”

Launching as a luxury brand

“I knew that choosing to open a store with the brand was risky. There really isn’t another new luxury leather goods brand. There are a lot of revitalized heritage brands and a lot of amazing ready-to-wear brands that will expand into leather goods, but [nobody is] doing something like what we’re doing. And I really look up to a lot of the luxury heritage houses, and [leather goods] is where they came from — and I’m trying to do that today. Why can’t we start something like that today? And so I knew that was risky, but it just felt like the right thing to do because it felt like the market gap that was missing.”