As the Year of the Horse begins, it brings with it a renewed sense of energy, success and freedom. This spirit of movement and heritage naturally calls to mind our Bridle Hide collection, deeply rooted in equestrian tradition. Discover the story behind one of our most iconic collections.
In 1999, Ettinger acquired one of England's oldest leather factories, located in Walsall, near Birmingham. In Victorian times, Walsall was known as the saddlery and leather goods capital of Britain. The city's foundation on limestone rock made it an ideal location for leather production as lime, a key ingredient in the leather curing process, was readily available.
"If you go back to the 1800s, there was a huge demand for leather saddles and accessories" explains our Factory Manager, Gary. "The nation had an enormous cavalry, which needed kitting out, and horses were very much the primary mode of transport back then," he adds.
However, everything changed with the arrival and proliferation of the motorcar at the beginning of the 20th century. Horses and the accessories they required were no longer needed for transportation, and the leather industry in Walsall suddenly had to change profoundly.
So when the Walsall factory was purchased by Ettinger, it came with storerooms piled high with beautiful, high-quality bridle leather, which had not previously been used for small leather goods. It would have been a crime to let it go to waste, and so our CEO Robert Ettinger, and our founder Gerry Ettinger, set about creating the Bridle Hide collection.
"It's not bridal, it's Bridle!" says Robert Ettinger, "It's the very thick cowhide that has been used to make saddles for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It's hardwearing and strong and made using a lot of oils and waxes, so it can stand all weathers."
In its original form, the bridle leather is not appropriate for wallets, due to its thickness so the factory workers had to take the original batch of leather and split it down to a more malleable thickness to make the first ever products.
But it wasn’t just the resilient bridle leather that needed using up; there was also a stock of softer, light tan panel leather looking for a new purpose.
The first collections were produced using black bridle leather and the London tan as the inside colour. Over the years, the Ettinger team has expanded the range to nine colours, from red and petrol blue through to nut and racing green, with the contrasting inside panel remaining the signature London tan.
Over 25 years since its launch, the Bridle Hide collection continues to feature some of our most iconic and bestselling designs, including the Billfold Wallet with 6 C/C.
Shop the collection HERE.