Henri CUIR

It seems like a legend but it is a true story.

It is a story which belongs to the miracle of quality and the made in Italy, even if the protagonist is a swiss man. Henri Beguelin discovers his passion for leather after learning the basiscs from a saddler in Locarno. His first belts are assembled with cowhide´s throw outs which Rolando Rossi, the master saddler, gave him. But the story really begins in the 70s, when the nomadic Hippy trend brings Henri to Isola d´Elba. There he teaches the local artisans the techniques he had learnt in Locarno and together they begin to make bags, sandals and accessories.

The first shop is located in Porto Azzurro, 1971. The second one in Marina di Campo, 1972. There, with a handful of friends, he produces the first Henry Cuir objects. The approval or rich holiday-makers makes him open a shop in Milan, via Carducci, really close to the Duomo. It was a lab-boutique, where the curious walker by could see Henri and his collaborators at work.

Thanks to the success gained by the entirely hand made items, Henri the artisan soon becomes a small firm. In 1981, Henri decides to brand his production with his name and a logo, a stylized little man. The road to heaven, studded with important clients such as Barney´s in NYC, has a sudden interruption in 1998. On behalf of disagreements with the new partner, he divests himself of the company Caribu and of the name Henry Beguelin (his own name). It is a suffered decision, prompted by the need to resist industrial mentality, that is replacing hands with machines and the personal touch of the artisan which follows the entire creative process with the anonymity.

Henri exits as Henri Beguelin, but he is far from losing his passion for leather and he comes back as Henry Cuir, the brand of his first production.

In the Spring of 1998 he already has a collection Henry Cuir. In 1999 he opens his own name brand shop in Tokio. The production grows and finds a seat in Vigevano, where qualified labour is still available. Melodie, the factory, is very close to Vigevano´s historical downtown. In the factory there are no machines, no conveyor belts but hands attached to people who work with a dedicated precision. The artisan selects the leathers he going to use. Therefore, discarding process is manual and the margin of production defect virtually null. There is no exploitation logic, as when the leather is selected by machines. A bag takes 2—8 hours to make, a pair of shoes 1—3 hrs. Each item has a name, usually in reference to geography, infused with poetry, passion and humor. His distributors have been extremely steadfast through the years. The name brand is distributed in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong and in the United States and now in Russia.