Beauty

«If you succeed all the time, then something definitely goes wrong» or how Bellroy has become a world famous wallet brand.

Behind Bellroy is a family of developers who have adapted the manufacturing philosophy originally applied to wheels and hinges to produce wallets that are getting smaller every time. Now they are sold in 120 countries, and their new start-up is looking to attract even more developers to ensure sales growth.

The Bellroy brand was founded in 2009 by Andrew Falshaw, a serial entrepreneur for Fallshaw Wheels & Castors.

«We reinvented the wheel» was the company’s slogan. It probably also served as some inspiration for Falshaw when he stated that he and his partner Gadrian Monlup wanted to produce their own product — wallets that would not have plastic and cardboard partitions that give the wallet its original shape. After all, it is because of them that wallets literally “inflate”.

Folshaw and Monlup were working together to furnish the Rip Curl store when they noticed that the leather-working methods used to make shoes and bags were completely unused to making wallets.

«The purse was one of the most ephemeral items we carried around with us. So there was a place to start,» Falshaw said.

“Everyone needed wallets in the past decade, which saw a boom in consumer loyalty cards that everyone is now starting to store in their smartphones.
But, unfortunately, the skin has a habit of stretching. And now men are walking around with these huge stones in their pockets, which have nothing to do with wallets. But no one is forcing them to do so.»

With this in mind, the founders of Bellroy made a special trip to the world’s alma mater of leather manufacturing and processing in southwest India. By working and communicating with suppliers, they have been able to improve the leather processing mechanisms and adapt them so that they can control the shape of the wallet, and the need for auxiliary support materials disappears by itself.