Second Skin

Based in Copenhagen, Lis Beck and Anna Sondergaard launched their first collection in 2003 using recycled eel skin to craft truly unique, beautiful, vintage-chic pouches, wallets and purses. Becksondergaard‘s inmediate success all over Europe soon spread around the world, and led them to further develop their brand of accessories to include hand painted and woolen scarves, as well as a line made with conventional leather.

When I had my wallet stolen last spring, I wasn’t extremely upset about the money inside, or even about having to redo all of my credit and i.d. cards. What held all of these things together was what I truly valued: my turquoise eel skin granny pouch. When they called me from the bar where they found it (in perfect condition, minus the cards and the money), I jumped with joy and breathed a sigh of relief that the thief didn’t see the real value of the wallet.
The extremely soft but — surprisingly — resistant eel skin is like a good wine, and gets better as time goes by. As you hold it and use it, the skin gets softer, the tone gets richer, and yet it keeps looking new. Their attention to detail travels all the way to the inside of their products, which are always lined with playful polka-dot or printed fabric.
I love that they use recycled eel skins, which would otherwise be discarted, and simply tint them in a range of precious colours. Becksondergaard is a timeless classic, and yet is cutting-edge in its use of unexplored and recycled materials.

I always find time to go to my friend Marina Robles‘ showroom and see what delicious accessories and Becksondergaard items are in the new collection. It seems that there’s always room for one more precious Becksondergaard!