Horween Weekender - Natural Essex

A bag is the one piece of home that comes with you on your travels. From weekends in Yosemite to summers at the beach - a bag is the bridge between home and where you are. We wanted to make a bag that would turn heads at the airport and that our children could use. We wanted to make a bag that gets better looking as it breaks in - always picking up a little more patina, always moving a little closer to perfection. We wanted to make the last duffel bag you’ll ever need to buy, at a value only Gustin can offer.

We worked for a very long time to find the right people to help us bring our dreams of a Horween weekender to life. The group of craftsmen we finally went with have been making bags in California longer than I’ve been alive. It’s in their blood. Yes, it’s their job, but it’s also their hobby and passion. They eat, breathe and live making some of the finest bags in the country.

The design of the bag is clean, functional and classic. There’s a single zipper compartment with a solid-brass two-way YKK #10 zipper. In lieu of the standard brass pulls, we’re making our own from the same Horween leather as the bag, and riveting them. The top corners of the bag snap down to the sides with solid-brass swivel snaps. This makes it easier to pack the weekender, and gives the bag a well-finished look. The handles are riveted and sewn to the bag sides for a beefy and durable connection point. They’re made of the same leather as the body, and burnished on the edges. The rolling makes them more comfortable to hold over a traditional flat handles. An adjustable shoulder strap with shoulder pad provides additional carrying options. On the interior of the bag, we’re using a heavyweight, brushed cotton twill in a rich tobacco color. There’s a single, YKK-zippered compartment on the bag that is trimmed in Horween leather. (Bag weighs 8 lbs empty).

For the leather, we went to The Horween Leather Company in Chicago. They have been in the leather game since 1905, and have developed some of the most durable and beautiful leathers on the market (from Shell Cordovan to the leather used for NFL footballs). For these weekenders, we selected their Essex line. Essex is the result of an experiment where Horween asked themselves - “what if we take a top quality cowhide and tan it with the same liquor we use to tan shell cordovan?". The result is a beautiful, durable leather that has a particularly rich coloring. We're using their natural color - it starts off as a light brown, and will darken and age beautifully with time.