It’s rare for a European luggage designer to look to the United States for manufacturing, but Johnny Diamandis of J. Panther Luggage appreciates the durability and wear of the American valise. “It has a less precious feel and it gets better with age, not worse,” he says. “Basically it’s luxury goods, American style — more rugged and built for life.”
Courtesy of J. Panther The canvas Aviator.
For more information, go to jpantherluggage.com.
He ended up cold-calling high-end tanneries and asking where they shipped their leather for production before embarking on a grand tour of factories to find craftsmen who shared his perfectionism. (Like his competition SCARPE NIKE SHOX, he isn’t in the habit of naming names.) The result is a manly line of rucksacks, weekender bags and a small multi-pocket travel document bag called the Aviator, named after a pilot/engineer who makes them. (Prices range from $425 to $1,425.)
Although Diamandis was intent on producing his line in America, he claims not to have had a clue where to start. “Colleagues in the industry are not always keen to share their suppliers,” he says, “and I was shocked to find out how many people here still use Italy SCARPE NIKE SHOX, when there are so many great factories in America.”
Courtesy of J. Panther
As for the label’s nomenclature, Diamandis SCARPE NIKE SHOX, a music fan, adopted it based on his like for musicians who often work under an alias on different projects. It also stems, he adds, from his love of wild cats and because he thinks it has a regal elegance to it. You can take the boy out of England. …
After Diamandis relocated to New York from London to be the creative director of Evisu denim, a restructuring left him jobless. Undeterred, he decided to stick it out and develop the J. Panther Luggage capsule collection, while continuing to work on other projects in London as well as teaching at the Royal College of Art. (He spent two years — the time that most designers usually take to give birth to eight collections — designing and testing only four items.)
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