LONDON — Chitose Abe, fashion’s collaborator-in-chief, has found an unexpected partner in Smythson, shrinking the brand’s leather briefcases and turning them into a passport cover, pouch and Chelsea notebook, all with little structured handles.
The accessories trio is made from Smythson’s signature crossgrain black Panama leather, and will launch Friday. The collaboration is the first between Abe, a long-standing Smythson customer, and the historic British stationer and accessories house that’s now owned by Oakley Capital.
Abe said in an interview that she was excited by the idea of co-creating “with a brand like Smythson, one that is traditional, timeless, and has been loved for many years. Their items are part of my everyday life, which allowed my ideas to grow naturally. All items can be used in a wide range of situations, and my hope is that each piece becomes part of everyone’s daily life.”
She said her first creative challenge was “how to express our design language of ‘hybrid’ using Smythson’s iconic items as a base. While these pieces typically exist as small accessories, by adding handles, I wanted them to function not only as small leather goods, but also as mini bags or accessories. By expanding the ways they can be used, and the situations in which they are carried, I wanted to convey a message of creating items that naturally fit” into people’s lives.
Accessories from the Smythson x Sacai capsule.
Abe said she likes collaborating with other brands because it offers “the ability to create something entirely new by bringing together different DNA. This was also true in the case of Smythson. By building on the shared philosophy at the core of both brands and layering our own brand elements onto the traditions Smythson has cultivated over time, I believe we were able to create a new sense of the everyday.”
Smythson’s chief executive officer Paolo Porta said he enjoyed watching “some of our most iconic Smythson products reimagined through the eyes of Chitose and her team.”
The collection will be sold through Smythson’s two London shops and stockists worldwide as well as at Sacai stores. The prices are $475 for the Chelsea notebook; $485 for the passport cover, and $640 for the small flat pouch.
Chitose Abe wearing pieces from the one-off collection Cartier created for her.
Shoji Uchida
Smythson is the latest in a long string of Sacai collaborators, which over the years have included Nike, Blazer, Moncler, Carhartt, Levi’s, The North Face, Dior and Cartier. The designer has also worked with artists including Kaws, Eric Haze and Mark Gonzales.
Abe’s hybrid designs were in full flow during the men’s fall 2026 and women’s pre-fall show in Paris last month.
She worked with Levi’s once again, using stiff, dark denim for tailored pieces, adding leather biker details to rounded, sculptural jackets and styling flared jeans as if they were formal trousers.
She also worked with A.P.C., creating a new fabric inspired by the French company’s patchwork quilts by Jessica Ogden. Those quilt designs surfaced on minidresses and maxidresses, puffers and skirt-y trousers with geometric patterns that resembled stained glass windows.
