How MAISON de SABRÉ Turned Pikachu Into A Luxury Collectible

Co-founder and creative director of the brand Omar Sabré said, in a release that “This collection celebrates the journey of exploration with Pokémon, winding back to our first and fondest memories with the animation and games. We're speaking to our inner child, but with our grown up voice now.” In combining their signature design with The Pokémon Company’s creations, Sabré explains: “We wanted to deeply cherish this memory and present it in the most endearing, elevated and enduring way possible - utilising our finest marquetry techniques applied entirely in leather, and crafted for sophisticated carry every day.”

Nodding to many of Pokémon’s iconic creatures, the collection includes different motifs such as Pokéball charms and lightning bolt zippers. Handcrafted with pecan-brown leather and contrasting yellow stitching, the collaboration is a marriage of play and design.

“Our vision for this collection was to present it at a level of craft that had never been explored before －bringing Pikachu to life in the most tactile and animated way possible through the application of leather inlay, onlay and overlay techniques to create three-dimensional form. It was about raising the bar and approaching the collaboration with the same meticulous rigor that we apply to our core collections,” Sabré continued.

At its core, the collection marks new heights in MAISON de SABRÉ’s ongoing mission to synthesize a “disciplined” design approach with a universally beloved franchise. “This collaboration reflects where our customer is today,” co-founder Zane Sabré said.

“They’re highly engaged, culturally fluent and looking for products that sit at the intersection of design, function and storytelling. From a business perspective, the release aligns with our broader growth strategy — creating products that travel well across markets while remaining disciplined in how we produce and release them.”

Personally, PAPER has our eyes on that Pikachu Palais bag. But the Pokéball charms look equally tempting — maybe we catch them all?

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This article was a collaboration between MAISON de SABRÉ and PAPER.