Your wallets are iconic. None is like the other, and yet they are recognizable by Antonetty. By Caroline Antonetty, the leather tailor from the Glockenbachviertel. She has had her shop on Klenzestraße for 30 years. The wallets are made of fine leather through and through. The ones with the snap closure at the front fan out like those typical black gastro wallets. But only the style can be compared. At Antonetty they are in colored leather inside and out, combined with a desire for contrasts and originality. The fronts are carefully stitched. Why use black leather when this natural material comes in such beautiful tones and embossing?
“Knowing hands” is what Caroline Antonetty calls her own. She also always wears the four rings at work.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
Caroline Antonetty throws a sample wreath onto the worktable and leafs through it. She kneads, strokes, feels the material samples with her fingers: embossed calfskin in deep purple, shiny red, smooth leather in turquoise, orange, yellow or foiled in silver and gold. The leather tailor goes into raptures. She loves the material she works with every day, the delicate smell of which fills the air in her shop. Loosely rolled up, much of it is stored on a large U-shaped shelf and under the work table. “It’s incredibly durable and sustainable,” she says. She also likes it because you can repair pieces of leather. Sometimes this work is more of a restoration, such as with a client’s briefcase, which was an old heirloom. “If not us, who else should do it?” Caroline Antonetty laughs. “Just not in the run-up to Christmas.”
The seams are carefully stitched, leather does not forgive a wrong stitch.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
She thinks that many people have lost touch with leather, and she regrets that very much. A skirt, a pair of pants, a coat can become a second skin, change positively over the years, live the lives of their owners, so to speak. To demonstrate, she pulls a lilac-colored jacket from the back of the chair. And again she kneads and strokes the material, rubbing her palms against it. The outer layer used to be more colorful, like the hem on the lining, but none of the value has been lost. She slips into the sleeves, which reach exactly to the beginning of the back of the hand. The zipper can be easily pulled up, the jacket fits perfectly. custom work. Handwork.
The materials are deliberately selected: fine leather, a durable lining, good yarn, long-lasting zips and fittings. She pays a lot of attention to that, says Caroline Antonetty. And to adhesives that do not poison either their employees or the environment.
Caroline Antonetty would love to discuss things with vegans, but they don’t usually come to her shop. Of course not. She has nothing against veganism, she says. But until now there is no material that lasts as long as leather. At least she hasn’t found one yet. She would certainly offer it. The demand would be there.
She learned a lot from the repairs, she says. How to use tools, for example. How to properly hold a hammer or pliers. “Knowing hands” she calls her own. “These are hands of people who have worked with a material for a long time.” The seamstress picks at her fingernails, the dust. They’re never really clean. The four rings on the right hand rotate slightly. They are made by a Munich goldsmith and accompany her, even when sewing.
Caroline Antonetty has been living in Munich for 33 years. She had just turned 25 and didn’t know how her life should go on when she packed her duffel bag, took her sewing machine and drove south from Cologne. She also had a five-year apprenticeship in her pocket. After graduating from high school, she learned dressmaking and cutting techniques, and soon specialized in leather. She liked tapping, gluing, cutting with a knife instead of scissors, being careful with the grown skin of an animal. Munich welcomed them with a party and helpful people. The first order became a challenge. She was supposed to be tailoring Paul McCartney’s Sergeant Pepper suit – in the shortest possible time. She had 24 hours including the purchase of fabric. In the car on the way to the customer, she sewed the last stitches.
The seamstress has learned how to use tools correctly over the years.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
Self-employment continues to challenge Caroline Antonetty to this day. It’s not an easy road, and it’s not a way to get rich. At least not in monetary terms. The morning look in the mirror, however, is consistently positive. “I believe in what I’m doing here,” she says, and talks about the deep joy she feels with her work, which counterbalances the worries that accompany her. The Corona years and three water damage have slowed down business in recent years. Customers stayed away, the shop was partially open only to a limited extent. During the renovation of an upper apartment in the house, there were several problems.
She would like to pass on her skills to a potential successor. During the conversation, Kimberley Kirchner joins them. In her, Caroline Antonetty, 57, has found an employee with whom she wants to shape the future. “Everyone here has helped shape the store over the years,” says the boss, who only speaks positively about the people who surround her. A lot should happen this year. The online shop, for example, and the production processes. “We lose valuable time with some steps,” she says. But perfection must remain. A wrong stitch on the machine, which the needle drives in instead of cutting, can ruin a piece. Leather is unforgiving. Caroline Antonetty gets a purse. The clasp is a magnetic button, not visible from the outside, it doesn’t push through. That’s important to her.
Good craftsmanship costs money. The purse from about 200 euros upwards. Antonetty now becomes a registered trademark, like Gucci, Chanel or Coccinelle. Antonetty made in Munich. Made with “knowing hands”. They can pull leather, cut it, sew it – and even stroke it.
Everyone needs their head to work in their job. Some also require very special manual dexterity. In our series, we introduce people in Munich who do special manual work.