Alma: the story of the first bag I ever imagined in my life

Some bags are born for a collection. And then there's this one. I'm telling you myself, in the first person, because it's mine in a way no other one is.

The bag where it all began

The first bag I ever imagined in my life wasn't born at Labienhecha. It was born long before. Before the workshop, before the team, before the stores, before everything we are today. Before, even, my first brand.

I imagined it when I had nothing but an idea and a longing too big to hold inside. And I finally brought it to life back in 2018.

It was, literally, the first bag I ever made.

But I didn't make it easy for myself

It took me months to show it. Months. Because I didn't see it as perfect, and back then, if something wasn't perfect, it didn't exist. So in the end… yes, I launched it, but from a place that left me with a nagging feeling.

It's true I didn't start with an easy design... and not only did it take everything I had to build the prototype, but I really struggled to deal with the fear, the uncertainty and the wanting everything to be perfect.

In fact, I have this memory of when I was starting out and still didn't know where all this would take me. That feeling of panic... from which it's very hard to create with an open heart.

Why I've brought it back

This year we turn 7. And to celebrate it I didn't want to release just one more bag: I wanted to go back to the beginning and finally do justice to that first design (or maybe do justice to myself?...)

I just know I wanted to do it from a different place. Not from pressure or from the fear of it not being perfect —like in 2018—, but from the pure joy of creating.

And from another emotion, I reinterpreted it with everything I've learned in these years in the workshop.

The same, but better. And this time, no nagging feeling.

I've called it Alma. No other name came to me. Nor could it be called anything else...

Because... If there's a bag with a soul, it's this one. (Alma means "soul".)

What it's like

Alma is a bag of pure lines, cylindrical and tubular, timeless. The kind that don't follow trends: they simply work. Today, and many years from now.

And if there's one thing I've improved with this reinterpretation, it's without doubt the versatility, the comfort and the everyday use. And maybe it's not my place to say it, but I'm in love with the result:

Meet Alma →

More than a bag

For me, Alma is a tribute. To beginnings. To first ideas. To the dreams that didn't yet know they could come true. And even to those mistakes that, with time, you understand were also part of the journey.

And maybe that's why, when you hold it in your hands, it feels different. Because some things are just made. And others are made with soul. ♥