ATP Atelier: the ‘smart luxury’ Swedish leatherwear brand that counts the cool girls as customers

28th December 2022

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Shoe and accessory brand ATP Atelier is rooted in Stockholm, but calls Italy home, too – in fact, the company describes itself as a ‘love child’ of the two countries.

These days, it’s loved by fashion editors and influencers, but eleven years ago it was a mere idea between friends who loved to holiday in Italy together. Impressed by the quality of small-scale ateliers that hand crafted leather shoes in their workshops, founders Jonas Clason and Maj-La Pizzelli set about creating a ‘city sandal’, fusing their Stockholm style with Italian craftsmanship. A sandal that would outlast a beach holiday and look just as chic with tailored neutrals as it would with a floaty linen dress; one that wouldn’t look out of place on the streets of New York or London, too.

Pizzelli once told Forbes: “Sustainable leather is the backbone of ATP Atelier,” and she’s stuck to her word.

Since its launch in 2011, the brand has led by example by principally using vegetable-tanned Tuscan vacchetta leather from eco-friendly tanneries, and never uses chrome-tanned hides. Its nappa leather, meanwhile, is tanned using a patent-pending metal-free process, which reduces water and electric consumption.

Handmade in the independent Italian ateliers that first inspired Clason and Pizzelli, each piece is tangibly luxurious, all the while maintaining a Swedish simplicity that makes them a hit with the chicest shoppers.

The first ATP Atelier shoe ever made was the ‘Rosa’ sandal. To this day, it’s a continual best-seller and a popular shoe with a number of fashion influencers, as well as testament to the brand’s sustainability principles. In creating pieces that are timeless and classic, it aims to inspire a slower fashion cycle with items that will remain in style for seasons to come.

The company has since grown across shoes, bags and small leather goods. In recent seasons, its chunky thong sandals were a hit with the Instagram crowd, while the boxy ‘Assisi’ bag is loved for its roomy structure and cross-body wearability. They are, in the brand’s own words: “Smart pieces you’ll never break up with.”

These days, ATP Atelier is partnered with big name stockists including Net-A-Porter and Farfetch – but all the while, it has managed to remain an ‘if you know, you know’ brand, with ethical principles that remain the same.

The brand sums up its USP as ‘smart luxury’: meaning to rethink the concept of luxury. It’s beautiful, of course – but it’s smart, too; it outlasts trends and fads.

On its website, the brand states: “Smart Luxury is not about extravagance or frills – it’s about taking care of you. To allow yourself to not follow the broadest path and to spend your time and money on the things and experiences in life that last, both for your own sake, but also for the world we live in.

“Let’s focus on the future we want, in our industry and in our world. Smart luxury is thought through, it is meaningful and last but not least, it is beautiful.”