Located in the town of Marans, Fabien Bruneteau has been working with leather for almost 2 years, to create bags, belts and small everyday objects. Meet a passionate craftsman from Aunis Marais Poitevin.
Fabien welcomes us today in the “CuirFraneau” workshop where he works with leather to tell us about his job. Self-taught, it was following a professional reconversion in 2022 that he chose to start working with leather. Always attracted by manual craftsmanship, he learned the tricks of the trade on his own.
“Without losing courage, put your work back on the loom twenty times,” Boileau tells us.
This is exactly what Fabien does, refining his know-how over the months and years. He draws his own patterns, learns how to cut leather, soften edges, seams and finishes, and care for his leather...
He carefully selects his French or Italian leather to have the best products, worked in vegetable tanning. This is in fact one of the oldest processes: longer, softer, but non-toxic and more ecological, using a majority of natural ingredients. His leathers “live”: they improve over time, lighten at the folds and allow to create articles that last over time.
After tracing and cutting the leather, he then sews his various creations by machine or by hand. The “hand” sewing is done point by point with linen thread coated with beeswax, in “saddle stitch” for better resistance. He then marks the edges, sands and polishes his leather by coating it with “Tokonole” cream to protect and embellish it. It can then be rubbed with an ebony wood burnisher, smoothing the edges for a perfect finish.
What Fabien likes about this manual work? Creating, learning by oneself to constantly improve one's work, thus refining one's art and creating unique pieces.

Belts, handbags, wallets, glasses cases... You can find all this expertise in its online store, but also in our Comptoirs Locaux in Surgères and Marans in the Christmas store from November 18, 2024!