Hamid Lakhal

Bag maker

Omar Chennafi©Michelangelo Foundation

The ancestral art of metal handbags

Hamid hand carves patterns in metal sheets to create precious handbags
He is the fourth generation of his family to be practising this craft
Each bag is a unique jewel

Hand carving copper and silver nickel to make precious little handbags is a family business. Hamid Lakhal's great-grandfather, grandfather and father were making them before him. Hamid learnt his craft by going to his father's workshop as a child and watching him work every day. Hamid could not think of doing anything else. Very young he experienced how much he enjoyed carving the materials and giving them a shape. Each piece is unique. Hamid uses very thin and sharp tools to obtain very precise results. Although his workshop remains discreet in the busy Fez medina, connoisseurs and collectors know Hamid's work as he is one of the last remaining artisans making metal bags in Fez and in Morocco.

Interview

Omar Chennafi©Michelangelo Foundation

Omar Chennafi©Michelangelo Foundation

Where and how do you get your inspiration?: I read lots of magazines. I have a pile of magazines which I keep adding to from here and there. I find many ideas in traditional items but also in contemporary art. I also look around me a great deal. Everything can inspire me for a new shape. Sometimes I try to adapt leather bags into a copper or a silver nickel handbag.
What are the main steps to make a metal handbag?: The first step is to find the idea. For that I try to look at as many images as possible and all around me, as everything can be a source of inspiration: nature, animals, the crowdy souks in the medina. The second step is to craft a shape from wood and I sometimes also make a sample out of leather. Then begins the engraving of the metal sheet.
What do you like the most about your profession?: I love the fact that it is in a never-ending process. I never do the same thing twice. This work is about creation and innovation and that is fantastic! Each piece is a work of art, and each piece needs to be perfect. Sometimes I sketch drawings first but not always.
Who are your customers?: My customers are a mix of locals and tourists, collectors who have been coming to my store for years and years, designers who need my creations for shows, but also simple passers-by who see my wonderful little bags through the windows of my workshop and fall in love with them.

Hamid Lakhal is a master artisan: he began his career in 1977 and he started teaching in 1990