February 11, 2016 M0851
In a world of horrible bosses, soul sucking commutes and dreading going to work on Monday morning starting on Sunday, one company rises from the pack, M0851. I had the chance to chat with Marine Godfroy, Marketing Director for the brand, before the event started. You can tell by the way she talks about the brand just how passionate she is about it – and we aren’t talking drinking the company Kool Aid passionate, it’s genuine. The name M0851 is a combination of the owners last name (Frederic Mamarbachi) and his birthday (August, 1951).
The retail shop opened quietly on Newbury street in December, but came out with a bang last week at their opening party. Some of Boston’s most fashionable came out to check out the new shop! Here’s what I love about this brand – they are bridging the generation gap, and succeeding at it. Would you be caught dead shopping in the same store that your mother does? (No Talbots for this girl thank you very much) Yeah, probably not. Some stores are marketing to millennials but selling to the “mom” crowd and vice versa. These bags and jackets are less trendy and more timeless. It’s that one bag, or that one leather jacket that is a staple in your collection – an investment piece.
Marine walked me through the company and showed me the collection. M0851 ethically sources their leather from Europe and all the products are vegetable dyed. Each jacket is cut from one hide so that the whole piece ages at the same time. (You can spot a cheap leather jacket when you see the arm, for example, has changed color and the rest of the jacket hasn’t – that piece of leather has aged faster). The collection is made in M0851’s workshop in Montreal – on any given day you can see craftsmen cutting forms for a jacket or the amazing machine, that was originally made for cutting out shoe forms, cutting the pieces for the bags. All the bags are hand stitched and each bag can be traced back to a specific craftsman. Because the bags are handmade, they aren’t perfect, and M0851 embraces their imperfections, the bags are one of a kind!
The Boston shop offers leather bags for men and women, outerwear and tons of accessories (you have to stop in and just feel how light and soft their scarves are!). While the company does small runs of lines, they have a large permanent collection, and with the workshop so close in Canada, they can make additional runs as needed. Pieces of the collection are available in “matador” or “Montana” leather. The matador is Danish full grain bovine with a pebbled finish, where as the Montana leather is sourced from Holland and has a smooth finish.
Guests were treated to delicious small bites provided by the talented Brendan Burke, Executive Chef at Serafina. Pictured above is the beet soup and below are the tomato and mozzarella skewers.
Not pictured are the Blackbird Doughnuts, which are super delicious. Check out my previous post about them here.
M0851
134 Newbury Street, Boston, MA
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foodserviceeast
said
Beautiful bags, coats and leather accessories at this quality level are hard to find. This store has them!