In the picturesque town of Teodorano, located within rural landscapes of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, the tale of Marco Campomaggi unfolds — a designer who weaves the spirit of nature and a heritage of craftsmanship into each of his creations. Since his early days influenced by the creativity of his sculptor father, Marco’s journey in the fashion world has always been paved with the intent to construct objects not only to withstand the test of time but also to encapsulate a narrative uniquely their own.
Born from the humbling yet creatively charged environment where making handcrafted essentials
was a way of life, Marco’s designs pay homage to this kind of spirit by creating timeless accessories.
“I grew up in a small village, surrounded by nature,” Marco said. “For me, the people who live within nature often face the difficulties that nature presents. And, yet, they strive to do and create beautiful and good things, to develop their craftsmanship and make artisanal products aimed at improving
their lives. This was an incredible inspiration for me.”
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It is this innate love of the open-air life that serves as inspiration for Marco’s latest Outdoor Collection. Feeling the need for a practical, lightweight and functional accessory for his excursions, Marco developed a collection of products carefully designed to meet this specific needs. And like prior collections, this one features one-of-a-kind designs — distinctive and original.
Marco’s philosophy is clear: “I don’t want to hide the past life of the leather I use, but add my creativity to create something unique and original.” Each Campomaggi bag is a testament to uniqueness, where the “signs of history” are celebrated as marks of distinctiveness and beauty. Much like the doorways, shelves, and shawls of his hometown, his bags are made to last, to age gracefully, and to gather stories of those who choose to wear them.
Many Campomaggi bags have journeyed through generations, collecting narratives and emotions along the way. According to Marco, his clientele seeks not just a bag, but a vessel that carries their personal saga — each scratch and mark on a Campomaggi bag maps the chronicles of its bearer.
“My clientele loves things done well, and products that emotionally move them,” Marco said. “These are people looking for products made with the utmost care and attention to detail. But above all, they seek products that serve the customer to tell his or her story better. Products made this way also help us see ourselves better.”
The designer brand’s customers also seek originality and authenticity in the products they buy. And Campomaggi delivers on those fronts. Regarding authenticity, Marco stamps his birthdate, “25-02-1961,” on every label — a testament to the product’s genuineness.
Regarding originality, Campomaggi bags are crafted using a unique manufacturing technique that sources refined, 100 percent Italian cowhide leather, a by-product of the food industry, vegetable tanned.
This vegetable tanning process is a traditional and completely natural method of treating leather which employs tannins found in tree barks like mimosa, chestnut, and oak. Thanks to this process, the leather retains its intrinsic characteristics, unaltered by chemical processes or synthetic elements, so that the natural leather appearance is preserved.
A further signature feature of Campomaggi bags are the studs, which are more than mere decorations for the designer; they are essential creative tools. Marco masterfully varies their sizes, colors, and shapes — star or flower-shaped — across different collections, transforming them into true artistic statements that accentuate each bag’s design. Each stud is manually placed and fixed in such a way as to obtain compositions on each model that differ slightly from each other and further enhance the uniqueness of the individual piece.
Following their production, Campomaggi bags are garment dyed, a slow natural dyeing process that leaves the leather alive and free to absorb and react to the color according to its characteristics. The blending of all bag components in the coloring process results in a product that embodies harmony and uniqueness, available in natural, earthy tones such as cognac, dark brown, military green, beige, gray, black, and blue.
Looking towards the future with deep reverence for the past, Marco continues to innovate: his newest Outdoor Collection combines the typical Campomaggi beauty ideal with the needs of those who love walking in nature and the outdoor life to have an accessory that accompanies them on their open-air adventures.
Embedded in the essence of Marco’s work is a powerful narrative of love — for nature, for art, and for enduring craftsmanship. His bags are more than just accessories; they are icons of heritage, sentiment, and timeless style designed to accompany stories yet untold, for generations to come.