Handmade bags workshop

The first handmade bags were created in Tuscany in the 12th century.

In the Middle Ages bags were important. The ones widely used were game bags, bandolier haversacks and shoulder bags. They left the hands free while travelling allowing people to carry everything that was needed. In the thirteenth century the first leather, velvet and silk pouches were introduced. But it was not until the Renaissance that real bags with clasps appeared, much like the ones we have today. In the sixteenth century, there was diversification based on shape and origin: French or Venetian-type bags. In the seventeenth century the bag was replaced by the muff that had an inside pocket for valuable objects. In the eighteenth century at the Sun King's court, the barrel bag was fashionable. This was a big bag that could even hold a pet; this was probably the first introduction to the suitcase. The bag, as we know it today, had its boom in the twentieth century. Women began to travel and fashion was developing: thus travel bags, suitcases, trunks, purses and hat boxes were created.