Tusting X Rachel Trevor-Morgan
The best collaborations are rarely planned. This one began over lunch, with a simple idea: what would Tusting's signature bags with Rachel's design handwriting look like?
Founded in 1875 as a tannery creating fine leathers, Tusting has grown into one of Britain's most respected leather goods houses — a fifth-generation, family-run business that has never lost sight of what matters. Their 25-year relationship with Aston Martin as sole provider of specialist luggage speaks for itself.
In parallel, Rachel established her millinery business in 1990 and has spent 35 years building a reputation rooted in the same values — craft, longevity, and an unwavering attention to detail. In 2014 she was granted a Royal Warrant for millinery to HM Queen Elizabeth, making hats for Her Majesty right up until her final balcony appearance in 2022.
Her workroom in St James's operates on the same principle as Tusting's workshop in Buckinghamshire. Every hat has been shaped by hand, blocked, and finished with care. The materials matter. The process matters. Visiting the Tusting workshop only deepened that sense of kinship — seeing their craftsmen at work, Rachel came away, in her own words, having learned a great deal.
So when the question arose — what would happen if Rachel's millinery world crossed over into leather? — the answer turned out to be rather beautiful.
The Collection
The RTM × Tusting collaboration comprises two exclusive handbag designs, both handcrafted in the UK and available now.
The Mini Holly Bow — in a soft blush Blossom and an ivory Cloud (£475) — begins with Tusting's classic silhouette and adds something distinctly Rachel: a generous, sculpted leather bow. It is a signature millinery detail translated into leather with the same craft precision she applies to a couture hat. The effect is immediately recognisable as hers, and yet entirely at home in Tusting's world.
The Clara Floral in Cloud (£540) tells a quieter story, but no less considered a one. Its three-dimensional pressed leather petals and gold foiled stems are drawn directly from Rachel's personal archive of antique flower presses. Each petal is crafted in leather, delicate in appearance but made to last, finished with gilded stems that catch the light.
Made in Britain. Made to Last.
Both designs carry something that matters to Rachel deeply. They are designed and made in the UK, by people who care about their craft, using materials chosen for their quality and longevity. In a world that moves quickly and disposes easily, that feels worth saying plainly.
This is not a seasonal capsule. These are pieces designed to be worn properly, to travel with you, to be brought out year after year. The kind of thing you reach for without thinking, because it always looks right.
To mark Tusting's 150th anniversary with a collaboration felt fitting — two British makers, at different points in their stories, finding common ground in the same quiet conviction: that the best things are made carefully, and kept.
