From the UK leather factory that crafts for luxury fashion houses, a passion project for creatives
“We worked out that there will be over two million combinations on our customiser you can choose from”
A single slimline cross-body bag, crafted to support creativity and simplify your day-to-day carry needs, is about to launch on Kickstarter, from the man behind one of the UK's last remaining leather factories. For over 20 years, Minh Phan's team has quietly manufactured for some of the most prestigious luxury brands worldwide. But his personal project? A brand he launched over 12 years ago to keep his own creative spark alive.
The story begins at Mowbray Leather Goods, a UK factory that operates from a single, dedicated site in Melton Mowbray - one of the biggest of its kind in the country. Their work is the invisible backbone of some of the most coveted accessories on the market, built on traditional bench-cutting, hand-finishing and obsessive attention to detail that comes from years of partnership with the world's most exacting design teams.
Factory owner Minh, set-up his own slim-wallet brand back in 2018 as a creative outlet. Crafting fully customisable leather wallets, built for lovers of simple yet satisfying design, the TROVE wallet projects had huge success on Kickstarter, which included the launch of the original TROVE Wallet, the TROVE Swift and the TROVE Cash Wrap - which hit its fundraising target in just two hours! The brand has continued to be a source of creative expression for Minh and his team, as they continue to expand their product range, collaborating with artists from all over the world.
His next project is a bag built for the freelancers, artists, and makers he’s met along the way. SAC by TROVE is a fully customisable slimline cross-body bag, a product made to hold your essentials for a creative life, to encourage flexibility, idea generation and self-expression.
He noticed that most cross-body bags fell into two camps: overpriced luxury pieces that felt precious and impractical, or cheap fast-fashion options that fell apart within months.
SAC by TROVE was built to sit in the gap. Every bag is made to order, built for the creative professional who needs a bag that works as hard as they do. A slimline, unfussy yet durable SAC, sized for the essentials a freelancer actually carries - notebook, pen, power bank, phone, keys, etc.
The Details:
Waterproof 600D PVC shell that shrugs off rain, spills and daily knocks.
Tough, structured fabric that keeps its shape, even when you load it up.
Wipe clean exterior that stays looking fresh with minimal effort.
Exterior webbing pocket + internal organisation pockets
Fully customisable (Fabric, Webbing, Zip).
It lives in a unique world between pocket and backpack, giving you the space you need for the creative essentials.
“We worked out that there will be over two million combinations on our customiser you can choose from. We wanted this bag to be a love letter to creativity, recognising the impact even a little self-expression can have on your day-to-day.” - Minh, Trove Founder
This isn't a marketing exercise from a luxury conglomerate. It is a single factory owner using his decades of experience to make the bag he always wanted for himself. The same hands that have stitched for the world's most famous fashion houses are now stitching for independent creatives - one bag at a time.
So if your pockets have stopped working and you need a little more space to allow more creativity into your life, consider backing Melton-made SAC on Kickstarter. Launching in June 2026 > https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trovecc/sac-by-trove