Bentleys. Custodians of leather with legend

London’s Lower Sloane Street’s emporium of style and beautifully aged leather

19th June 2024

Stroll down London’s Lower Sloane Street and you’ll find an emporium of style and beautifully aged leather—and we at RLSD have fallen in love with it.

A family business established in 1989 by Tim Bent, Bentleys is a museum of the beautiful. Like most museums, every artifact tells a story. Unlike most museums, most of the exhibits are for sale.

Stocking antique luggage from the great French houses of Vuitton, Goyard and Hermes, and their less well-known British contemporaries, the shop provides a glimpse into the lifestyles of past ages and a link to the craftsmanship and traditional skills that are in danger of being lost.

Bentleys’ motto is “The best is good enough” and Tim has spent a lifetime searching for pieces that live up to it. His taste blends classic British country life with the subtlety of continental luxury.

As befits a shop of this quality, it is in the design district in Chelsea. This is no place for hipster edginess, it is a place of quality, luxury and refinement.

All the pieces in Bentleys tell a story and Tim makes sure these stories are thoroughly researched. To spend time there with him is to absorb the history of the days when practicality and luxury went hand in hand.

With leather items ranging from cigar holders to desks and hat buckets to shoe trunks, there is something to captivate everyone.

Bentleys shop interior

Bentleys cigar cases

Pick up any piece at Bentleys and you’ll know it’s good enough for one simple reason. . . It’s the best.

Over the coming months we’ll be running a series of features on some of the amazing pieces that Tim has found. We’ll tell you about how and where they were located, their history, what they were for and who they were owned by. We’ll also take you through the steps taken to revive the pieces, ensuring they look their very best without losing the beauty earned by age.