The Perfect Leather Tote Bag for Travel and Everyday Luxury by LaMarqq
Words | Cristina Deptula
Before the read
What makes TrooRa LaMarqq new leather tote bag stand out in sustainable fashion?
Discover how vegetable tanned Vachetta leather and Italian craftsmanship set this tote apart in sustainable luxury.
How does Basil Racuk influence the TrooRa La Marqq collection and its color story?
Learn about Racuk’s colorist approach and heritage inspired by Northern California craft and Japanese design.
What is the big idea behind the Color Issue swag bags in TrooRa’s launch ?
Explore how future issues fuse art, branded swag, and exclusive products to boost ethical luxury storytelling.
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Packaged in Beauty Preserving Character: TrooRa LaMarqq’s New Luxe Leather Tote Bags
La Marqq has launched its first product: a leather tote bag for travel and everyday life, from designer Basil Racuk, who is being featured in TrooRa’s Color Issue.
The bag’s Vachetta leather is vegetable-tanned to last longer. It was produced using only natural, non-toxic chemicals and preserves the characteristic colors and scent associated with fine leather. Produced in the Italian region of Tuscany, Vachetta leather’s high fat content allows for a buttery soft finish and develops a distinctive patina over time. Only about ten percent of modern leather is still vegetable-tanned, and this process reflects centuries’ worth of craft.
The bag will contain swag from brands featured in the Color issue, including Palo Santo incense from Magnolia Wellness and candles made from recycled wine bottles. Each future issue of TrooRa will have an accompanying leather swag bag featuring sample products and a different work of art commissioned from an artist featured in that issue. The quality Vachetta leather handbag will be gifted to VIP guests at TrooRa’s The Color Issue Summer ’22 Launch Event Party on July 28th at San Francisco’s Dirty Habit.
Marqq texture
La Marqq: Sustainable, Ethical Luxury
Launching the TrooRa La Marqq line has been a dream of Cunningham’s for quite some time, and she looks forward to diversifying into other products. Collaborating with designer Basil Racuk has been a fun project. Racuk says working with Cunningham and TrooRa on these bags is a special and unique project. “It’s been exciting to finalize the design and stitching process!”
“It’s all about building partnerships,” Cunningham says. “The swag bags allow our featured brands to sample their products to our treasured audience and loyal supporters.”
Dirty Habit, where we will have the launch event party for TrooRa’s Color Issue Summer ’22, is the elegant cocktail lounge for San Francisco’s Hotel Zelos, part of a chain of hotels featured in past issues of TrooRa, who expressed interest in future joint projects as well.
Basil Racuk’s Wide-Ranging Inspirations
Designer Basil Racuk takes inspiration from the craft heritage of Northern California and the simplicity of Japanese design. “1980s design, Russian Constructivist art, ancient history—inspiration can come from many places. Interpreting these points of inspiration and putting that on paper is the starting point on my journey of creation.”
Building His Designs: Artistry and Industry
Racuk makes all the pieces he designs, which is unusual in today’s craft landscape. “There was a time when San Francisco had a vibrant culture of retail craft, contributing greatly to the spirit of the city, and in a broader sense, the global design conversation. In the past 40 years, that culture has given way to larger brands, so designers have become links in the longer chain of a manufacturing process.”
He says his interest in design encompasses the physical creation process as much as the idea-generating creative process. Balancing artistry and industry, his creative ideas and the wishes of his clients was always the goal.
“As a designer, I’m sensitive to offering new concepts that are the logical progression of my design journeys, which is another way of saying that I try to take my customer along with me on the journey.”
Marqq texture
Marqq texture
Simple, Colorful Pieces
As for his style, Racuk hopes to create pieces appealing for their merits alone, with as little branding and design fanfare as possible. “I’m creating shapes simple enough to be worn wherever you are, whoever you are.”
Over the past few years, he’s become more of a colorist, offering pieces in seasonal hues. Asked about his favorite color, he says, “June is Pride month, so right now, I’m focused on the rainbow spectrum. I created a series of shapes recently with the color spectrum thinking about the gains that my community has made over the past decades. Having diversity around is essential and inspiring. My hope is that we can all appreciate that diversity benefits us all!”
Cunningham is particularly eager for the world to see her first finished product and knows they will be as thrilled as she is. She is ecstatic to have collaborated with Racuk and looks forward to continuing a line of TrooRa La Marqq products.
