R. Horn’s Handmade leather goods from Vienna

R. Horn's manufactory produces colourful leather goods of timeless elegance - from spacious travel bags to small spectacle cases. Artists of the Viennese avant-garde and sometimes also customers serve as inspiration: R. Horn's is one of the few companies that offers custom-made products according to individual wishes.

It all began with a photograph from the 1920s. On it: Katia and Thomas Mann, holding a simple leather folder. Robert Horn, who had just set up his own leather accessories factory at the time, liked the piece - and took it as inspiration for what is now his most popular model: the Thomas Mann briefcase.

"At the beginning, we weren't sure whether it was really a bag or a travel seat cushion," says Julian Horn, who joined his father's business almost ten years ago. In the end, they decided on the former interpretation - fortunately, because today, the bag is an absolute classic and the most popular model of R. Horn's leather goods manufacture.

Over the years, the range has grown: in addition to briefcases, the workshop, which is equipped with high shelves and heavy machinery, also produces handbags and travel bags, as well as mobile phone cases, key rings and spectacle cases. The leather comes mainly from Italian tanneries and is processed by hand by the ten or so employees.

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The team finds inspiration in archives and in Viennese history, especially at the turn of the century, when avant-gardists such as Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and the artists of the Wiener Werkstätten shook up the scene with their avant-garde works.

"Form Follows Function" is the motto: R. Horn's pieces are practical yet elegant. Timeless favourite pieces that accompany their wearers for a lifetime. The jewellery is now sold in three shops and via the company's own webshop.

If you like, you can have your personal favourite model made to measure according to your own wishes. No wish, no idea is too outlandish. One of the most impressive custom-made pieces, Julian Horn tells us, was a case for two batons. The client was the conductor of a well-known symphony orchestra.

Verena Carola Mayer

Author Vienna and Berlin