Harlington Backpack in Sandstone

The Harlington has been constructed using our signature densely woven cotton canvas and genuine cowhide leather detailing, which have both been given a wax treatment. A process designed to enhance, strengthen and stylise the pack, but crucially bring the bag a resistance to moisture. First appropriated by Scottish Mariners in the 1500s, waxed canvas has been a historically fundamental fabric for life in the outdoors, so it became a natural fit for our bags.

We look for materials that are rugged and durable, but it’s also crucial that they age well. Over time, the waxed cotton will soften and conform to the way in which you use it and a patina will develop. The combination of exposure to the hot sun, driving rain, and the movements of your body, will lighten the color in the creases of the waxed fabric to create your own unique wear patterns. It truly is a thing of beauty.

The cowhide leather detailing is again treated with a wax coating, which enhances the fibres of the leather for a soft touch and an increased durability and moisture resistance. Like the waxed canvas, with use a natural patina will form onto the leather, unique to your piece and the journey in which you travel.

The beauty achieved when combining waxed treated canvas & leather naturally commands a need for a specialist workshop with the experience needed to shape something special. However marrying up the rugged durability of waxed cotton & leather, with the design for comfort and flexibility needed from an everyday carry option, complicates the production process profoundly.

So the task of finding a production partner grew increasingly hard for us. After some time trying to figure out the impossible, we were introduced to a boutique workshop located in mainland China who have the experience required to specialise in crafting high quality bags using these difficult materials, who are able to produce unusually small production runs to support our early days business, and importantly have a full understanding of the value created from maintaining excellent conditions of work. As soon as the mail arrived delivering our first test sample we knew we made the best decision. In fact, with our first sample we had so much confidence in what we had, that later that day we officially launched Oldfield onto the web, and have since never looked back.