About Us
Rydal combines British design, Italian Leather and Spanish craftsmanship. We are a UK company. All our bags, wallets and accessories have been designed in the UK and we source the cotton fabric interiors for our bags from British Millerain in Lancashire, England. Our leather comes from the Tuscan region of Italy, from one of Italy’s finest tanneries. The leather is vegetable tanned and goes through a rigorous pre-selection process to ensure that only the highest quality leather is selected. We have spent a huge amount of time researching and visiting tanneries in both Italy and Spain that solely produce vegetable tanned leathers and opted for Italy due to the renowned quality of this type of leather from the Santa Croce area of Tuscany.
The quality and origin of the leather we use is underpinned by the Guarantee Label of the Genuine Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather Consortium. Each of our products comes with the Guarantee, a symbol of excellence, that certifies that the leather has been produced in accordance with the exacting standards of the Consortium. Each Rydal product sold contains this Guarantee Label which contains a unique serial number that allows the Consortium to identify both the tannery producing the leather and the manufacturer.
All of our bags and accessories are made in Ubrique, Spain. This "pueblo blanco" (white town), 70 miles from Seville, is famous for leather production with many of the world’s luxury fashion houses making use of its artisans to make their handbags, wallets and belts. Leather production in Ubrique stretches back more than 200 years, with more than half of the town’s population working in the leather trade. The skills and techniques of this artisanal craft have been passed down from generation to generation and even today, other than the sewing machine, there is very little in terms of automation.
Our products are defined by three core principles: quality, practicality and sustainability.
Quality
Quality underpins everything we make. The majority of our production processes are carried out by hand by skilled artisans. We source the finest Italian full grain leather which is produced using natural vegetable tannins found in trees and plants. Our cotton fabric interiors come from the British Millerain Company in Lancashire, a company that has been producing cotton textiles since the 1880s, and we only use metalware (e.g. zips and fittings) from well-established and trusted names.
Functionality
Appealing design is integral to our products but so is functionality. We understand that our products are there to serve your needs and therefore we believe in products that help and support you to achieve your goals and aspirations. Rydal products are equipped to carry everything you need and we have a range of products to suit your different needs, whether it is a travel bag for an overnight stay or a business bag to carry everything you need for that all-important meeting.
Sustainability
We only use vegetable tanned leather. We do not use mass produced chrome tanned leathers which the majority of today’s leather goods are made from. Vegetable tanned leather costs more due to the natural tanning process taking up to 40 days and the fact that much of the process is performed by hand. The result is not only a leather that is of superior quality but one that is better for the environment as it is biodegradable and can be recycled. Chrome tanned leathers take 1 day to produce and use chemicals, acids and salts (including chromium III sulphate) that are bad for the environment. Many companies continue to use chrome tanned leather because of the quicker time to produce and cost. We believe luxury products can be made in a more environmentally sustainable way and we therefore provide a pledge that we will never use leather that is produced using chromium III sulphate and other metal tannins.
Find out more about how vegetable tanned leather is supporting sustainable men's fashion.