The Art of Joseph Duclos

This Parisian handbag Maison is a favorite of Taylor Swift – and Louis XV. 

To Paris, where a young French company is reviving the era of Louis XV’s court — one handbag at a time. In its flagship boutique in the 8th arrondissement, close to the Elysee Palace, Joseph Duclos displays its wares on illuminated pillars, like art in a gallery, to showcase the craftsmanship involved in each bag.  

Founded in 2020 by former financier Franck Dahan, Joseph Duclos revives the family name of an 18th-century leatherworker whose tanneries supplied Louis XV after the king granted him the 1754 Letters Patent establishing Duclos’s Royale Leather Manufacture as the crown’s official supplier. Unable to trace descendants of the Duclos family, Dahan purchased and registered the name as a tribute to honor the original craftsmen and pioneering tanners while speaking to a new generation of discreet luxury lovers that includes Taylor Swift – more on that later.

One of Dahan’s first moves was to hire Ramesh Nair as artistic creative director. With a resume that includes stints at Moynat Paris and Hermès under Martin Margiela and Jean-Paul Gaultier, Nair is known for his deep understanding of silhouettes, structure and craftsmanship.

“Translating the rigidity of leather and metal into coveted handbags, something emotional, is not easy,” said Dahan. “But Ramesh was able to reinterpret the 1700’s and bring so much creativity and perfection that these bags are relevant and timeless today. That is a sign of longevity and passion. If a design could survive for centuries before, it will survive for centuries to come.”

Each piece is made by hand in small French ateliers by artisans who train for nearly a decade before working on Duclos. One bag takes about five days to complete; Duclos makes fewer than 600 handbags annually.

The house offers four collections of handbags, crossbody bags, shoulder, messenger and mini bags. The Saint-Clair bag is inspired by gun-powder bags, while the structured, almost sculptural Diane features engraved molded metal frames and arrow-shaped clasps that, apparently, reference the arrows carried by Diane, the goddess of the hunt. The Diane has become something of a cult classic after Taylor Swift wore it last March on a date with her now-fiancé Travis Kelce (after which, Joseph Duclos received an unprecedented barrage of inquiries from fans eager to find the ‘Swiftie bag’). Other fans include Nicole Ari Parker, Carla Bruni and Brigitte Macron.

In addition to the limited-edition bags, Duclos offers one-of-a-kind and bespoke commissions, allowing clients to choose everything from exotic materials to skin colors, precious metals for the hardware and even gem setting.

With handbags going up to $40,000 – with some custom pieces running as high as $150,000 – Joseph Duclos has become an insider’s treat. But it eschews waiting lists; instead, clients can purchase and pre-pay for a bag –and sit tight for months until it’s ready.

There are also small leather goods, leather bracelets and small jewelry items inspired by the hardware, as well as fragrances for each collection. 

“In the time of Louis XV, perfumed gloves were common — a way to mask the scent of the leather – so this seemed a natural progression,” said Dahan, who turned to a prominent French master perfumer, Nathalie Feisthauer, to develop the four different scents. With 40 years in the industry and her own LABscent studio in Paris, Feisthauer has crafted perfumes such as Honour Man for Amourage, Must de Cartier Pour Homme, L’Eau d’Issey Florale for Issey Miyake and Gardenia Petale for Van Cleef & Arpels, among others.

Much of the value of a Joseph Duclos bag lies in the materials and craftsmanship. Duclos sources cowhide and exotic skins from tanneries that supply exclusively to them. Each hide undergoes a natural water-molding process that can take more than six months. Even then, only about 60 to 70 percent meet the desired standard.

The makers use waxed linen thread — rarely seen in modern leather goods because of its cost and difficulty to source. But it’s prized for its strength and gentleness on the leather, and is critical to the longevity of the bags.

Many of the tools used in the process are constructed in-house, including those for shaping, embossing, and even finishing the buttons and metal fittings. For the hardware, Nair dug deep into the history of Royal Leather Manufacture, reviewing the leather military boots, coin purses, gun powder pouches and travel cases of the era for inspiration.

“It’s crazy how much time we all spend on each bag. From the thought process to the designing of the shapes, even to the tanning of the leather and the sewing,” said Ramesh Nair. “Sometimes, my artisans will call and say I am driving them nuts; they will send me pictures of their fingers after working on a specific process, but then there’s this bag that could only have been made because of the way we do it. There is just no way we will compromise on the process.”