The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

Unique, Ti meless and Exclusive W hen it comes to the world of high- end handbags and leather goods, one often thinks of the items from the holy trinity of luxury brands: Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Having long monopolised the market as the go-to labels for ‘IT’ bags and accessories, these companies by and large produce some of the finest ward- robe accruements available to the public. However, while these luxurious heavy- weights may dominate the ad pages and billboards, there are smaller, more exclu- sive companies that offer equal, if not finer and better quality, products for those in the know. A few months ago, I was for- tunate enough to become one of those lucky few in-the-know persons of style when I was introduced to KWANPEN, a luxury handbag and accessories label specialising in crocodile leather! Hailing from Singapore, KWANPEN was founded in 1938 by Master Craftsman Kwan Pen Seng. During that time, this highly skilled man was creating leather handbags and belts out of cowhide, but soon discovered that crocodile leather was similarly priced, which prompted him to begin creating pieces from the enticing shiny, multi-pearled skins. As a pioneer in creating products from ethically sourced crocodile leather, KWANPEN has made a name for itself by becoming a world famous retailer of the exotic leather by joining the finest European Technolo- gies and making full use of the Excellent Efficiencies of Singapore’s Infrastruc- ture. Every piece of raw material used to create KWANPEN products come bitebags Dawn Hunt gets intrigued by KWANPEN’s SS16 crocodile leather bag collection and explains the process behind the use of crocodile skin. KWANPEN