LONG BEFORE HANDBAGS for men became trendy, leather designer Bill Amberg was already creating bags for what he calls 'the independent-minded man; adventurous with a great sense of humour'. The Bill Amberg brand of leather goods has, for more than 20 years, sated well-heeled men's appetites for beautifully crafted leather bags and accessories.
Bill Amberg set up his company designing leather goods in London in 1984. Today the company is divided into three divisions: design, architecture and wholesale/retail. The first division includes a team of Royal College of Art-trained product and furniture designers who assist Amberg in fulfilling commissions from corporate clients across a wide range of products and accessories. Among their more recent projects are a handbag line for Margaret Howell and sales products for Motorola.
The architecture division creates interior and architectural leatherwork, offering bespoke products for clients' jets, yachts and homes.
The wholesale/retail wing is the one that the man on the street recognises Bill Amberg for - in such manifestations as accessory designer Katie Hillier's current Bill Amberg range.
In his flourishing business, Amberg has never wavered from the company's founding ethos of 'refining form and function through traditional values of construction with modern requirements of function and usability.'
Last year, Amberg was appointed by gentlemanly English brand Dunhill as one of four designers (the other three are Tom Bolt, Nick Ashley and Richard James) to rejuvenate its image. In charge of the leather collections, Amberg wasted no time in updating Alfred Dunhill's Motorities line, a range of accessories first launched in 1893 for the gentleman motorist.