Luxury Leather Goods With a French Pedigree and a San Francisco Address

Beatrice Amblard’s target market couldn’t be smaller. It consists not just of the fortunate few who can spend $2,500 for a handbag, but that even tinier number that prize the work of a relatively unknown artisan instead of an instantly recognizable global luxury brand.

“My fear when I started the business,” said the San Francisco–based founder of April in Paris, “was could I find enough people who appreciate what I do not for the name but for the quality of product. It’s a very small percentage of the population.”

Small but devoted: After six years with a retail space–cum–workshop on Clement Street, Amblard has a sixmonth waiting list for her made-to-order leather goods. “I deal with people who are really tired of seeing the same thing everywhere— not having any personalization on their product, carrying the same thing everyone else carries,” said the designer.

Amblard uses leather sourced from France, plus exotic skins like alligator, her specialty. Prices start at $950 for a men’s billfold and go up to $10,000 for a custom alligator handbag or briefcase that takes seven days to produce. Most bags run $2,500. The cost is split fairly evenly between materials and labor. A $10,000 alligator bag would require four to five skins at $1,000 each, plus leather for the lining.

All items are made on site by the hands of Amblard and her one assistant. The two turn out less than 100 items per year for April in Paris’ private clients and one wholesale account, Wilkes Bashford.Well-known clients include Boz Scaggs, Peter Coyote and “Matrix” producer Joel Silver.

At the tender age of 18, after two years’ study in a French vocational school for leatherwork, Amblard got “the best experience possible in the field”: a job at the Hermegrave;s factory in Paris. She worked in the factory for four years before transferring to Hermegrave;s’ San Francisco store to work in after-sale service, which includes repairs. She worked at the San Francisco store for 10 years before branching out on her own.

She modestly states her work is certainly comparable to that of the famed luxury-goods line. “It’s hard to say I’m better; I hate to say that,” said Amblard. “I also do everything myself one piece at a time, so I have more quality control and do everything the way it used to be done. I think Hermegrave;s’ way of manufacturing has changed in the last few years.”

Since most of Amblard’s work is custom, clients enjoy taking an active role in choosing the colors, materials and style of the products they’re ordering. One client asked for 30 beach bags in leather and canvas to give to visiting house guests.

While working with canvas was a new experience, it’s nothing compared to stingray, which Amblard has been experimenting with. The material has a very distinctive look but is extremely difficult to work with. “It’s like steel,” she said.

Amblard plans to expand her wholesale accounts, but it’s difficult when she does almost all the work herself and has a half-year backup. Though she’s been in business six years, assistant Scott Tal is the first qualified apprentice she’s found. The kind of vocational training she received at age 16 is virtually unheard of in the United States, something she’d like to change one day by opening a school.

Enrollment, however, might be as small as her connoisseur clientele. “The training is intense, and you have to repeat the same steps so many times that a lot of people just don’t have the patience for it.” —Christian M. Chensvold