Brands To Know: Laudi Vidni

I am a huge proponent of staying true to your own personal style. You can shop big box retailers and buy the 'it' trend of the season, but you still have to make it your own. That's not always an easy task. First, you have to know what your personal style is... and what it's not. It took me years of writing this blog to even narrow in on what "The Modern Otter's" style looks like. I often felt obligated to wear more color or dress more dapper in order to run with the other blogger boys. Which in retrospect, just wasn't true to who I am.

I love elevated casual wear. Pieces that are classic and minimal, but are made incredibly well, have really interesting details and great fabrics. Don't give me extra bells and whistles... just strip it down to great design that anyone can wear and use.

I have written about a few brands recently that are engaging their clients in the design process and I am obsessed with the concept! I love having conversations with designers and brands in order to create something that perfectly matches my personal style. It's so cool! 

For today's blog post, I'm focusing on a leather goods brand that puts the individual first. They're called Laudi Vidni (literally 'individual' spelled backwards). They let you customize your own leather bag to match whatever color combination you desire. 

I have a fair amount of travel planned this Fall and Winter to the SouthWest. My entire family is in Arizona, so I'll be spending most of the holidays down there and we shot this post while vacationing with our friends Will and Toby from Bright Bazaar in Palm Springs. 

With that in mind, I partnered with Laudi Vidni to design a desert inspired duffel bag. It's the perfect shade of chestnut and soft olive green. Kind of like desert sand and cactus. That was the main inspiration, but it perfectly matches the colors in my home and my wardrobe these days!

Olive is always my go-to color in the Fall! It's warm and rich, and earth tones go with everything!! And you can't go wrong with a great chestnut leather, particularly when its Horween. The Horween Leather Company has been producing some of the finest leather since 1905, and they're based in Chicago! They're most famous for supplying the leather for NFL footballs, but American brands like Wolverine and Alden use them for their Goodyear Welted boots. The leather ages really well and looks amazing when you beat it up a bit. I particularly love the subtle textural contrast between the pebbled olive straps and the smooth chestnut body.

I almost went with a green/navy combo... but figured this one would be a bit more versatile season over season. 

Laudi Vidni has a bunch of different travel goods you can customize, so head over to their site and play around for a bit! They'll even send you free leather swatches in the mail to help with your decision making process. This duffel bag was the perfect size for a long weekend #OtterExpedition, so you'll be seeing it a bunch in my upcoming travel! 

What do you think of the color combo?? What colors would you choose for a leather bag?

*This post is written in partnership with Laudi Vidni. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own, as always.