Why the world needs a handbag like Gunta
In an era of fast fashion and fugacious trends, the handmade Gunta Bag, handmade by Ownever, stands as a rebellion, a masterpiece crafted by Portuguese artisans whose skills have been passed down through several generations. This bag is not merely an accessory; it is a living archive of Portugal’s textile and leather heritage, a celebration of Bauhaus-inspired design, and a lesson in responsible luxury creation.
From a manual loom to luxury
We invite you into the vintage loom room with master Fernando, where wool, leather, history, and heart converge to create a handbag destined to outlast the season, and, quite possibly, its owner.
Portugal’s rich textile heritage at a glance
Long before Portugal became synonymous with surf retreats and blue azulejo tiles, the country’s mountainous north and interior bubbled with the rhythmic clack of hand-operated wool looms. From the Serra da Estrela shepherds who wear charismatic burel coats, from the spinning merino fleece artisans, Portuguese craftspeople have always treated natural materials with reverence. That reverence lives on today in small ateliers like the ones Ownever supports.
Meet Fernando, the last master weaver
Every Gunta Bag begins in the mountain village of Aboim da Nóbrega, nestled in the green hills of Portugal’s Minho region and celebrated for its wool-working heritage.
Fernando learned the wool craft from his mother, who in turn mastered the loom under her own mother’s knowledge. Fernando has spent decades perfecting his craft on traditional Portuguese wood looms in Aboim da Nóbrega. When Ownever approached him about translating those techniques into a contemporary luxury handbag, he embraced this collaboration as a way to keep hand‑loom weaving alive for the next generation. After all, he weaves stories about all the generations that embrace this beautiful and centuries-old wool weaving technique.
The wool is 100% natural. It’s carded and is not dyed; it’s used in this way. You can even find an interesting texture of small pieces of natural elements wrapped into the wool, due to the sheep walking in nature and getting these little pieces of weeds into their wool coat.
When the wool meets the leather elegance
No luxury handbag is complete without leather that can stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the textile. Ownever uses mostly natural dyed leather, sourced from a Portuguese tannery.
Artisans pattern, cut, hand-paint edges, and burnish each piece for durability. You can see the detail when you look at the hand-stitched seams.
The Gunta muse is Gunta Stölzl and the geometry of modernity
The Gunta Bag owes its name and charismatic design to Gunta Stölzl (1897‑1983), the Bauhaus movement’s first female master and a visionary textile artist. Her explorations of balanced asymmetry and functional beauty resonate deeply with Ownever’s design ethos.
· Geometric Panel Layout: Wool panels echo Stölzl’s abstract tapestries, creating a visual rhythm.
· Natural Palette: The raw, cream-toned wool, complete with subtle specks of field grass, honours Stölzl’s appreciation for authentic materiality.
· Form Follows Function: Just as Stölzl championed textiles as architecture for daily life, the Gunta Bag is engineered for everyday elegance, roomy enough for a tablet, yet refined for an evening vernissage.
Ownever sources the leather with a family-run tannery. Leather undergoes vegetable tanning, creating a product that aligns with Ownever’s commitment to circular fashion.
Artisans hand-paint edges in multiple layers, burnishing each pass for durability. Every seam is finished with linen thread using a stitch stronger than machine lock‑stitching.
Form follows function
Just as Stölzl championed textiles as architecture for daily life, the Gunta Bag is engineered for everyday elegance, roomy enough for a tablet, yet refined for an evening vernissage. Ownever’s mantra “Luxury that lasts longer than trends” is no slogan. It manifests in tangible action.
The Gunta bag offers an experience that machines cannot replicate
Ownever’s Gunta bag is more than a luxury accessory; it is a conduit between epochs, artisans, and owners. Each warp thread, stitch, and patina tells a story, one that began in a mountain‑village loom room and now travels wherever you do.
By choosing Gunta, you invest in an artisanal lineage that values people over profit and legacy over landfill. Ready to carry history on your shoulder?
