When KMM & Co. got its start back in 2011, there weren't a lot of great options if you were looking for the perfect leather tote bag. J. Crew had begun to make totes that were starting to get popular. And a handful of independent brands were offering cookie-cutter totes without a lot of personality.
But Kyle, KMM & Co.'s founder, fresh out of the Accessory Design program at SCAD, looked at those bags and just knew that a leather tote bag could be better. Kyle imagined a timeless leather tote bag, with a simple, classic design. He wanted to make an heirloom-quality tote that wouldn't wear out after a season or two (unlike the poorly constructed bags that were and still are a dime a dozen on Etsy).
Kyle also wanted a tote with traditional craftsmanship and construction, without seams that would fail or handles that would break, which are both common problems with other brands' tote bags. (A tote bag is the simplest leather bag to make. But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get it right!)
KMM & Co. has had almost a decade to perfect our tote design, and we're proud to say that we’ve learned a few things along the way. Here’s what sets KMM & Co.'s totes apart from all of those *other* leather tote bags – and there sure are a lot of them!
5. A leather tote bag design by a REAL designer
Anybody with a side of leather, a few basic hand tools, and an iPhone can set up shop making leather totes. But not everybody can make a tote bag that you’ll actually want to carry day in and day out.
Many leather goods brands get their start in someone’s garage or basement. (KMM & Co. got its start that way, too! Hi, Mom!) But Kyle, KMM & Co.’s founder, is trained as a professional designer. He drew up countless designs and made lots of rookie mistakes before he even started his brand. At every turn, Kyle has relied on his rigorous design education.
Lots of "makers" put the proverbial cart before the horse and think they can learn everything they need to know as they go along. But we don’t ask customers (and your hard-earned dollars) to finance our trial and error. We think that any bag we sell should be designed, prototyped, tested, and perfected by a real designer.
Lots of other brands have come and gone over the years. Some of their founders have even met Kyle at craft fairs, made polite conversation, and then copied his designs. (You know who you are!)
But every KMM & Co. design, including our classic leather tote bag, is 100% an original design. Beware of imitations: There are very few leather goods brands who can honestly tell you that they're producing their own, original designs.
4. Years (and then more years) of testing and prototyping
Speaking of design, an amazing pattern is the blueprint for a great tote. Kyle first created the KMM & Co. leather tote bag design in 2011. He and the team have spent years testing and refining that original design. The goal? Ensuring that every single tote we make will stand up to years – a lifetime – of everyday use.
We’ve run into plenty of other leather goods makers who threw their tote design together over a few days or a long weekend. But we’re not afraid to admit that we’ve spent YEARS on our tote bag design. All that time and attention shows in the details.
What our leather tote bags *don't* have is just as crucial as what they do. Our totes don’t have hastily stitched seams that fall apart. They don’t have pockets that look good in photos but aren’t really usable. Our totes don’t have awkwardly positioned straps (or handles that will tear off the bag). And our tote bags never use inferior hardware -- watch out for double-capped rivets! -- or cheap top-grain leather. What's the point of making a tote if you don't make it right?
Kyle’s mom, close friends, and girlfriend have each carried KMM & Co. totes everyday for years on end. And each one of those totes looks better now than on day one. New leather goods brands pop up everyday. But very few of them have a decade of product testing under their belts.
3. Handmade, not homemade, craftsmanship
Craftsmanship is crucial. Don't get us wrong: We believe that anybody can learn to make a leather tote bag. (We're even planning workshops for the DIY-inclined!) But there’s a big difference between handmade and homemade. Only one of them is appropriate for a bag you’re going to carry everyday.
Traditional leather working techniques look simple enough to learn, but they aren’t easy to master. Many brands brag about saddle stitching, boast about backstitching, bluster about how many pounds their totes can carry, or rely on expensive leather to hide their shoddy craftsmanship. But that's not enough.
Making a great leather tote requires a lot of skill. You have to acquire those skills over time, by practicing traditional leather working techniques over a period of years. There are no shortcuts. Spending a few weekends following YouTube tutorials – or copying somebody else's design – doesn’t cut it!
Each member of KMM & Co.’s production team follows a painstaking training program before they get to make anything that our customers will see. And that training all takes place under the supervision of a professional designer who spent many intense years at school to learn his craft. Practice isn't always fun. But it makes the difference between handmade and homemade.
2. Made in America from start to finish
Each of our leather tote bags is made in America, in our Atlanta studio. You can find a leather tote bag that’s less expensive, but almost all of them are made overseas. (We know of at least one popular brand that advertises totes that are made in the USA, while the company has actually outsourced production to Mexico.) And if you find a cheap USA-made bag, that guarantees either that it's made by workers who aren't paid a living wage, or that the materials are sub-par.
Every once in a while, inexpensive totes come from safely and ethically operated factories. But most of the time, cheap totes are made in developing countries with a high risk of labor violations and lax environmental protection standards. Brands that brag about creating jobs in small villages in developing countries often engage in exploitative labor practices, paying women pennies on the dollar to make their totes for them. These brands often hurt people in vulnerable communities more than they help them.
If you care about the safety and wellbeing of the people who make your tote (and who produce the leather), you should buy American-made. Our totes are handmade in our Atlanta studio, where we have stringent safety rules that everybody has to follow. We also look out for the safety of the people producing our leather by sourcing leather exclusively from the U.S. and from countries with strict labor laws and environmental protections.
We also pay each of our employees a living wage (and benefits!), and every employee is a member of our family. Everyone gets extensive training in each skill needed for their job. And all of those employees take a hands-on approach to quality control to ensure every single leather tote bag meets our standards — something you can’t do if you’re making your totes in a factory, in a sweatshop, or in a village the company's founders have never seen.
1. Heirloom-quality materials of the best possible quality
Finally, a leather tote bag is nothing without a piece of heirloom-quality leather. Full-grain leather is the highest-quality leather, so it's the only kind we use. We're extremely picky about the leathers that we order to make into totes. (Our team sees hundreds of samples every year, but we choose only 10 to 20 of them!)
We have very high standards. We want leathers that will either make a soft and slouchy (but not unusably floppy) tote, or leathers that will make a beautifully structured (but not uncomfortably stiff) bag. Each leather has to be colorfast. It has to show the natural characteristics of the hide. And it has to acquire a unique patina, and look more beautiful with age and use.
Many other brands have figured out how to select leathers that look good brand-new. But few of them use leathers that will actually improve as they age. And very few are sourcing leathers that are beautiful enough to make a bag that will become an heirloom.
A KMM & Co. tote is the best leather tote bag money can buy
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of leather tote bags to choose from. But a KMM & Co. tote is the best leather tote bag because of our original (and often-copied) design, the years of testing and prototyping we've put into our totes, our heirloom-quality craftsmanship, our safe and ethical American supply chain, and the beautiful materials we use for every single bag.
We aren't making leather tote bags just because they're "trending," because they're simple, or because we saw someone else making them. We produce each leather tote bag in our collection because Kyle and the whole KMM & Co. team takes pride in making them the right way, the way they would have been made 100 years ago.
If you've been searching for the perfect leather tote bag, you've come to the right place. We've heard from countless customers who ordered a KMM & Co. tote and never again used their handbags from other brands. Take a look around, and drop us a line if you have any questions. (You can always get in touch at hello@kmmco.com!) We're looking forward to hearing from you -- and to making you a bag that you'll use for a lifetime.
Shop our leather tote bag collection to see the totes that we've been making since 2011. Check out our mini tote collection if you want a smaller twist on our classic tote design. Or browse our carryall collection if your motto is, 'Go big or go home!'