Founded in 1971 Mulberry will always be one of my favourite British luxury brands; it astounds me how such a fresh brand can have such a classic heritage in what is quite a short period of time. Mulberry to me is the perfect classic brand with contemporary twists, and unparalleled quality. I am such a Mulberry boy at heart, and I had my eye on the Elkington briefcase for quite a while – I finally purchased one last night from the Mulberry concession in Harvey Nichols Birmingham (thank you to the Mulberry girls for getting the bag in for me, and as ever their excellent customer service).

The Mulberry Elkington briefcase is an absolute classic piece of Mulberry heritage, it is the mens bag that Alexa Chung was photographed using which inspired Mulberry’s most popular bag thus far; the Mulberry Alexa, and consequently the Mulberry Tillie. This briefcase is the bag that started it all. It is the perfect classic English satchel briefcase with a slouchy relaxed look. The ‘back’ photograph above makes it look slightly deformed, however I can assure you that’s just the photograph, and the fact there is nothing in the bag at the time of photographing.

Typically I went for the natural oak, because I find the way it ages, and wears gives the bag a great look. My Mulberry iPad sleeve, iPhone case, and wallet are in the natural oak also. I protect my Mulberry natural oak leather with Collonil’s classic water + UV protection spray as recommended by Mulberry, it is inexpensive, and provides the perfect protection. The gorgeous soft smooth durable leather if looked after only gets better with age.

The Elkington despite having straps is actually undone, and done up by buckles which are concealed under the straps. As you can see the interior is grosgrained lined, with parts of brushed leather. The bag consists of one main internal compartment with a pocket, and a zip compartment inside it, a divided section, and an external slip pocket at the back. I love the lining with the Mulberry trees on, and of course the Mulberry plaque that almost every Mulberry bag seems to have. It is actually surprisingly more spacious than it looks, and it does fit most every day things one would carry around in a bag, or briefcase.

The strap is detachable, it has the classic Mulberry brass hardware, and a leather buckle to shorten, or lengthen the briefcase to suit your height when worn.

Mulberry’s brass hardware only further compliments this bag. I love the little touches such as the Mulberry logo, and the company name engraved into various parts of the hardware in a demure manner that does not take away from the bag. In my experience Mulberry hardware is very resilient, and always of great quality. It really is the little things that make a difference between a good bag, and a great bag – I really do love the leather detailing such as the trims, and zip pulls evident in the Elkington.

Worn here with a Hugo Boss shirt, M&S belt, Harvey Nichols suit trousers – you do not get to see my head today as I was feeling hungover (far too much champagne, wine, and far too many cocktails…), and unattractive at the time of taking these photographs.

I love the way you can just hold it, or wear it across your chest with the strap, or even nonchalantly hang it off your shoulder in a casual manner. I can just tell this is going to be a long love affair; it is such a resplendent bag. A classic bag like the Elkington will never go out of style, and I will certain be using it most days from now on.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of Mulberry, do you have a Mulberry bag? Let me know.