Alessia

Milo was founded in 2009 by Anju Gupta, a designer with a deep love of vintage elegance who began making bags at her worktable for real lives rather than runways. The label is designed in Canada and made by hand in Kolkata, India, where artisan groups weave each bag from full-grain leather. The brand works with them under Fair Trade principles, and the factory employs 185 people, a quarter of them women.

The weaving takes real time, and what follows matters just as much. Every bag is washed individually in a special dye, which gives the leather its softness and slightly rugged finish and means no two come out the same. The lines are clean, the textures are rich, and the distressed hardware adds to the worn-in look. The leather picks up more character the longer you carry it.