Leather, Suede and Raffia: Caring for The Row Bags
What you notice first about one of these bags is what it does not have. No logo plaque, no coated canvas, no heavy hardware taking the knocks. What you have instead is a lot of exposed surface: calfskin with the grain on show, lambskin linings, suede that takes a mark from a glance, and in summer a raffia weave left entirely unsealed. Care for The Row bags rests almost wholly on the material rather than on a finish laid over it. That leaves them simple to look after, and unforgiving of mistakes.
The organising principle is material, because that is how the decisions actually break down. The same season can give you a grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle that need opposite treatment, while a sisal bag is different again.
Before anything else: a caveat about care instructions
The Row publishes no public care protocol for its bags. 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, built on how calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia behave, not on instructions issued by the label. Approach it the way a good leather specialist does: cautious, conservative and biased toward doing less. If someone hands you a definitive brand-issued cleaning routine for these bags, they are filling a gap rather than citing a source. Ask a professional before applying anything at all to a piece you care about.
Behaviour beats product, every time
Everyday handling is where most damage to a good bag starts, so the fixes are behavioural. Overfilling distorts a soft silhouette faster than anything else, and it is the mistake owners make 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 for cramming more in. Sun dries leather out and fades it; radiators and car dashboards manage it faster. People underrate what rain does to unfinished surfaces, and suede and raffia have almost no defence against it. No product on designer tote bags a shelf covers as much ground as simply keeping a bag away from sun, heat and water.
- Empty the bag before storing it, including receipts and anything that can transfer colour.
- Never leave a soft bag hanging by its handles for long, because the drop stretches.
- Keep pens, keys and cosmetics in a pouch rather than loose against the lining.
- Handle pale calfskin and untreated suede only with washed hands.
Smooth, grained, saddle and polished calfskin
The backbone of the line, calfskin, is also the most forgiving material in it. Scuffs and shine both show on smooth calfskin, matte grained calfskin covers them nicely, and polished saddle leather lands somewhere in between. A soft dry cloth after use is the whole of routine care, used with the grain and concentrated on the corners and base where dirt collects. A neutral conditioner can be used sparingly and infrequently, with a test on a hidden panel first, and both of those words carry weight. Darkening, tackiness and lost structure are what over-conditioning buys you. Because pale calfskin picks up dye from dark denim, light bags belong away from indigo, and a transferred mark should never be scrubbed, because scrubbing spreads it.
Inside jobs: nappa and lambskin
These two appear more often as linings than exteriors, which alters how protection works. The Margaux Shoulder is lined in lambskin and the Bourse Clutch puts a nappa lining inside a calfskin exterior, so the softest thing in the bag is what your keys lie against. Exceptional softness, easy marking, and no tolerance for being worked on describe both. A dry soft cloth and nothing else is the correct answer, applied lightly and rarely. Skip conditioner entirely, because the hides are already supple, and over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen that never comes out. The protection that works is a pouch inside the bag, never something rubbed onto it.
Suede: the most demanding material in the line
At this label suede is consistently dearer, and the care it needs rises to match. Look at observed 2026 market prices and the gap is obvious: 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. The nap is what you are paying for, and it flattens, absorbs and stains more readily 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.
- After each wear, brush lightly along the nap, never scrubbing across it.
- A wet bag should dry naturally at room temperature, well away from radiators and hairdryers, then brush it once it has dried completely.
- Take dry marks off with a suede eraser, using minimal pressure.
- Send anything oily, coloured or set to a leather specialist rather than trying it yourself.
The list of what must never go on suede is short and absolute: no leather cream, no conditioner, no wet wipes, no soap and no water-based cleaner. Each of those mats the nap or leaves a ring that shows in every light. Over a year, regular brushing beats any treatment, which makes prevention rather than repair the realistic standard.
Raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon, silk and satin: what cannot be fixed
Know before you buy: these are the least serviceable materials the brand works with. 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 warps the weave and leaves behind a clean patch that looks like damage. Silk and satin pieces — the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes among them — mark permanently from water and skin oils. 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.
| Material | Routine care | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Calfskin in grained and smooth form | Soft dry cloth; neutral conditioner sparingly and rarely | Over-frequent conditioning; soaking a stain through |
| The nappa and lambskin surfaces | Dry soft cloth, used with light pressure | Any conditioner or cream |
| Suede surfaces | Suede brush and eraser; a professional for stains | Cream and soap, wet wipes, any water-based cleaner |
| Sisal, raffia, canvas and nylon | Spot-clean, then blot; dry in the air | Immersion, solvents, hard scrubbing |
| Silk and satin | Professional care; keep it dry | Any home cleaning attempt |
The parts people forget: hardware and linings
The hardware is palladium-plated with a matte or brushed finish, and protecting that finish is the whole job. Metal polish is made for shine and will burnish a deliberately soft surface 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. On the Margaux the buckles and base feet are engraved, and dust settles into those recesses, and a soft brush clears it better than a cloth. Cotton herringbone linings, as used in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12, should be vacuumed out rather than washed. Look at the stitching where the handles meet the body every so often, because a loose thread caught early costs a small repair rather than a large one.
How to store them between wears
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 does not, because the ink transfers. Store bags upright on a shelf rather than stacked under others, since these silhouettes hold their shape when empty and lose it under weight. Dark, dry and ventilated is what the space needs, and no sealed plastic boxes, which trap humidity against leather. Because form comes back to a bag that rests, rotating what you carry matters more than owners expect.
When to hand the bag to a professional
There is a clear line between maintenance and restoration, and crossing that line at home is precisely how good row handbags get ruined. Send colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede and stretched handles to a leather specialist. Structural jobs fall on the same side of the line, whether that is loose stitching at a stress point or a lining torn away from its seam. Because techniques built for coated canvas do not transfer, ask whether the specialist has handled unlogoed luxury calfskin. Discreet testing and an honest answer are what a good specialist offers, because untreated hide holds some marks for good. The resale discount from a botched home attempt outweighs the price of one competent intervention.
