Ettinger.
By Jonathan Campbell
The Ettinger story is a very British one. With a rich history spanning 90 years, Ettinger London is one of the few remaining luxury leather goods companies still manufacturing in the UK. The company was founded by Gerry Ettinger in 1934 – and Gerry was quite a character and entrepreneur […]
Effinger founder, Gerry Ettinger © Ettinger
Bernard Arnould, owner of LVMH, has a deep belief that luxury is a combination of craftsmanship and heritage. These two elements are abundant within Ettinger. Ettinger is 90 years old this year and they still produce all their products under a Royal Warrant here in the UK. The Ettinger story is a very British one, though with an international flavour. The company was founded by Gerry Ettinger in 1934 – and Gerry was quite a character and entrepreneur. He was born in Prussia and worked in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Perhaps as a result, he was gifted with the ability to speak languages. He worked in the film business in both Italy and Germany – he even worked with Marlene Dietrich – but it was while he was in Europe that he developed extensive contacts in the luxury goods business.
In the 1940s, Gerry came to London, where the famous luxury brand Asprey asked him to source high-quality leather goods from around Europe and develop a range for them. It was a great success. Now the next part of the story strikes a cord with me, because both my paternal grandparents were leather craftspeople, here in London.
My grandmother made high-quality handbags for the shops in Mayfair and Oxford Street. My grandfather worked for Harrod’s and made the Queen’s luggage. I had the best cowboy belts and holsters in the world.
In the 1950s, Gerry bought a leather goods factory in St John Street, EC1, so this enabled Ettinger to source the finest leathers from the best tanneries in Europe, and design Ettinger products and have them made here in the UK. Gerry controlled his entire supply chain, including manufacturing and sales. He used experienced craftspeople as a foundation on which to build the Ettinger brand into the luxury standard it is today.
Ettinger is now run by Gerry’s son Robert, who has extended the brand into new global markets. It was awarded its Royal Warrant by the then-Prince of Wales in 1996. Ettinger still produce their goods here in Britain, in a factory near Birmingham where they employ and train all their craftspeople. You can even go on their website and see who made your Ettinger product.
My choice of Ettinger was because I wanted to take beautiful flasks to Goodwood FOS (I’m a member of the GRRC) where I was a guest of Land Rover. I couldn’t resist the red leather flasks. As I unwrapped them from their exquisite packaging, the red really popped. The sense of occasion when you use them is wonderful. Everyone who witnessed me retrieving a flask from pocket or bag commented on how fine they were and nodded knowingly when they realised they were made by Ettinger. It’s important to support companies like Ettinger. They’re British, they manufacture here and to this day, they’re among the best in the world at what they do.
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Images. The Obsessive, Ettinger London, Merchant & Makers
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