Looking After The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags

Buy one of these bags and you quickly notice what is missing. Nothing to protect: no logo plaque, no coated canvas to wipe down, no heavy hardware taking the knocks. The trade is exposed surface: calfskin that shows its grain, lambskin linings, suede that marks if you look at it wrongly, and in summer a raffia weave with nothing sealing it. The material, not a finish laid over it, carries almost the whole care burden of The Row bags. Easy to maintain, and unforgiving of an error.

Material is the organising principle here, since the decisions genuinely break down that way. A grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle from one season want opposite treatment, and a sisal bag asks for something else entirely.

A necessary caveat on care instructions

Nothing resembling a public care protocol has been issued, because The Row does not publish one. No manual exists, no cleaning chart is published, and no brand-approved product line is sold alongside them. Treat all of it as material-appropriate general guidance, drawn from how calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia behave rather than from instructions issued by the label. Cautious, conservative and inclined to do less is how a good leather specialist works, and so should you. No definitive brand-issued cleaning routine exists for these bags, so anyone who presents one is filling a gap rather than quoting a source. Ask a professional before applying anything at all to a piece you care about.

Why habits outrank products

The bulk of the damage to a good bag comes from routine handling, and the fixes are all behavioural. Nothing distorts a soft silhouette faster than overfilling, and owners make it row most often with the Margaux and the Park Tote. The belted side gussets on the Soft Margaux exist so you can adjust the shape, not so you can force more into it. Leather dries and fades in sunlight, and faster still on a radiator or a car dashboard. Rain is harder on unfinished surfaces than people assume, and neither suede nor raffia has much defence against it. Keeping a bag away from sun, heat and water covers more ground than any product on a shelf.

• Empty the bag out before it goes into storage, including receipts and anything that can transfer colour.
• Never leave a soft bag hanging by its handles for long, because the drop stretches.
• A pouch keeps pens, keys and cosmetics off the lining.
• Pale calfskin and untreated suede want clean hands.

Calfskin, from smooth to polished saddle

The backbone of the line, calfskin, is also the most forgiving material in it. Smooth calfskin shows scuffs and shine, matte grained calfskin hides them well, and polished saddle leather falls between the two. Day-to-day care amounts to buffing with a soft dry cloth after use, going with the grain and concentrating on the corners and base, where dirt gathers. Neutral conditioner is fine sparingly and infrequently, and both words matter, tested first on a hidden panel. An over-conditioned hide darkens unevenly, turns tacky and loses the structure you want to keep. Because dye moves from dark denim onto pale calfskin, keep light bags away from indigo and never scrub a transferred mark, since scrubbing spreads it.

Nappa and lambskin, mostly on the inside

Because they appear more often as linings than exteriors, the approach to protecting them changes. The Margaux Shoulder is lined in lambskin and the Bourse Clutch pairs a calfskin exterior with a nappa lining, so the softest material in the bag is exactly what your keys rest on. Exceptional softness, easy marking, and no tolerance for being worked on describe both. A soft dry cloth, applied lightly and rarely, is the whole treatment. Because these hides are already supple, conditioner should be avoided altogether, since over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen that will not come out. Protection here means a pouch, not a product.

Suede: where the care burden peaks

Suede carries a consistent premium at this label and comes with a matching increase in care. Observed 2026 market prices spell the gap out: India 10.00 is $3,850 in leather and $5,370 in suede, while Agnes 15 goes $5,000 in leather against $5,800 in suede. For the premium you get a nap that flattens, soaks up and stains faster than any finished hide. Suede care is a mechanical business rather than a chemical one, which is the point most owners miss. A dedicated suede brush covers most routine wear on its own, used gently in one direction to lift the nap and clear surface dust. Anything wetter than that is a job for a professional.

1. Give it a light brush after each wear, following the nap rather than scrubbing across it.
2. Natural drying at room temperature, no radiators or hairdryers, then a brush once it is fully dry.
3. Take dry marks off with a suede eraser, using minimal pressure.
4. Send anything oily, coloured or set to a leather specialist rather than trying it yourself.

Leather cream, conditioner, wet wipes, soap and water-based cleaners are all banned from suede — the list is short and absolute. What you get is a matted nap, or a ring that shows in every light. Regular brushing does more over a year than any treatment, which makes prevention, not repair, the realistic standard.

Raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon, silk and satin: what cannot be fixed

These are the least serviceable materials the brand uses, and they ought to be bought with that in mind. Because these are not tanned surfaces, there is nothing to condition and no way to refinish a stained panel. Canvas and nylon are hard-wearing, but solvents and hard scrubbing damage them, which pulls the weave out of shape and leaves a clean patch that reads as damage. Water and skin oils mark silk and satin pieces permanently, the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes included. A barely damp cloth, a spot-clean and a quick blot — and that is the whole of home treatment for these materials. Because there is no repair to fall back on, keep them out of the rain and away from sunscreen.

Hardware, linings and the bits people forget

The finish is what you are protecting: palladium-plated hardware in a matte or brushed finish. Metal polish has no place here: made for shine, it burnishes a deliberately soft finish into something that no longer matches the bag. Buckles and feet want nothing more than a dry cloth, and drying whenever they get wet, so moisture never sits in the join. The engraving on the Margaux buckles and base feet holds dust, which a soft brush lifts far better than a cloth. Cotton herringbone linings, as used in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12, should be vacuumed out rather than washed. Because catching a loose thread early costs a small repair instead of a large one, check the stitching at the handle roots occasionally.

Between wears: storage that works

Quiet deterioration is a storage problem, and it costs very little to fix. The dust bag it came with is the right home, with just enough stuffing to hold the shape and not stretch the sides. Use acid-free tissue, or a soft cotton scarf; newspaper will not do, as the ink transfers. Because shape survives emptiness but not weight, keep them upright on a shelf and never stacked under others. Keep the storage space dark, dry and ventilated, and avoid sealed plastic boxes, since they trap humidity against leather. Rotation matters more than most owners expect, because time off lets a bag recover its form.

Knowing when to stop and call a specialist

Maintenance and restoration are divided by a clear line, and crossing it at home is how good row handbags get ruined. A leather specialist should take anything involving colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede or a stretched handle. Structural work is the same, from loose stitching at a stress point to a lining torn away from its seam. Because coated-canvas technique does not carry across, find out whether the specialist has handled unlogoed luxury calfskin. A good one will test discreetly and tell you when a mark cannot be lifted cleanly, because on untreated hide, some marks simply cannot be. A botched attempt at home leaves a resale discount larger than the cost of one competent intervention.