Our Story

Founder and Art Director, Emre Telli, understood the notion of quality over quantity at a very young age. From food to clothing to taking care of the finest detail, his idea was rooted in the belief that quality is always better than quantity. Especially this idea was reinforced during his stay for some years in Italy, when he first came into contact with skilled leather craftsmen who made products to last a lifetime. This belief is what ELBHAVN is all about - minimalist, timeless design with the highest quality materials, paired with superior craftsmanship to create leather goods that truly stand the test of time and wear.

At ELBHAVN, we embrace simplicity in our design language very early on and we discovered that we are very connected to the idea of slow fashion and circular economy. For us, Slow Fashion means looking at the entire system of a product from start to finish. From the materials to the whole life of the product. That's why we pride ourselves on sourcing our raw materials only from the best maker’s and suppliers in the world, who are committed to the same ethical values as we are. An incredible amount of love and work goes behind each of our hand-stitched leather products. We spend every moment practicing the same craft that look simple but require meticulous attention to detail.

Today, Emre Telli crafts each piece from start to finish with his own hands in limited editions in his Hamburg studio.

Are you unknowingly supporting a supply chain with huge environmental footprint? Probably yes. Many goods and accessories are made this way. Raw materials from one country, refined in another country, assembled in another country, possibly packaged and shipped from a fourth country and then shipped to you - the life cycle of a product that has basically circled the globe. That's a lot of travel and a lot of energy.

We are here to show you another way.

All of our goods are sourced from Germany and Italy. Our leather comes from San Miniato in Tuscany, supplementary hardware like the high-quality zipper from northern Italy and waxed polyester threads for hand stitching from nothern Germany. They are sent to us where we design, cut, handcraft and ship them from our Hamburg studio. Then they make their way to you. We are not perfect, but we are constantly striving to find the most efficient and environmentally friendly way. With these small changes, we can make a difference.

We can say, that we handcraft sustainable leather goods that you can be proud of, and we haven't even mentioned the quality of the raw leather we use. Our way of ethically handcrafting leather goods with a supply chain of locally sourced materials assures quality down to the finest detail.