Style Inspiration: National Racing Color Valises

We recently featured a set of stories on the history of National Racing Colors. And while we’d all like to have some British Racing Green, German White or Silver, and Italian Rosso Corsa machines in our garage, economics usually prevent this from becoming reality. We can however, diversify our allegiances (or cement them) by equipping ourselves with a weekend bag in our favorite national colors.

These bags are the work of Caracalla, a company named for the racing circuit in Rome where Scuderia Ferrari scored its first victory. It specializes in producing hand-made Italian leather goods inspired by the world of motorsport. They carry products influenced by the likes of Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Paddy Hopkirk, and Juan Manuel Fangio. The goods pictured here, as noted, were inspired by and carry the national racing colors of their respective countries. As the Caracalla’s website says, “This was a time before commercial sponsorship – when cars were painted in standardised racing colours to indicate the nation of origin of the car or driver.”

With regard to design and quality the Italian holdall includes, “Complementing coloured handles and stitching, and showcasing the original famous Italian racing stripe design of rosso (red), bianco (white) and verde (green) leather, the holdall is hand-made in Tuscany using the very best vegetable-tanned through-dyed Italian leather… Designed to grow old gracefully, all of our Monza holdalls are sold with a lifetime guarantee to cover stitching, zips and fittings. Each holdall displays solid metal feet for protection, a detachable shoulder strap and luggage tag, an internal zipped pocket, and comes with its own cloth dust cover for added protection when not in use.” When you return from your travels, make sure to share your stories and snapshots with us! Bon voyage!