A strathberry bag is made in Spain, which is the traditional home of fine leather goods manufacturing outside Italy, by a house founded in Edinburgh in 2013. The house signature is a slim horizontal metal bar that slides through a loop to close the bag, and it is the thing I notice first, doing the work a logo usually does. That is why the full-size Mosaic bag in tan and in black and the Kite Hobo in chocolate suede and espresso sit up top, next to the Stylist and East/West crossbodies and the Melody suede tote. It is also the detail people notice before they notice the brand.

The range splits cleanly by scale once you move past the first few shapes. The Stylist and East/West are the flat, chain-strapped crossbodies, the Mosaic Cabas and Midi are the work totes, and the Melody tote is the suede one. The Mosaic Nano Leather & Suede Top Handle Bag is the most decorative shape here, using panelled construction rather than a single clean surface. The Ace Mini Leather Crossbody Bag is the most streamlined option in the smaller sizes, built for the days a top handle is one too many decisions. The Nano Tote is a scaled-down version of the brand's larger totes, and it genuinely is small enough to question its own usefulness. The Barra Mini in tan is the slouchy small tote with a crossbody strap. Suede across this group looks richer than the leather pieces but shows water marks far more readily.

Buy the leather rather than the suede unless you have a specific reason. Strathberry's calfskin is genuinely good and it holds structure without a rigid frame, which is the mark of well-chosen leather. Suede versions are beautiful and will show water marks permanently. The Nano sizes are charming and hold a phone and a card case, which is the honest capacity. The bar closure is secure, and I find it takes a beat longer to open than a magnet, which suits some days and annoys on others. If you want one strathberry bag that covers work and evening, the Kite Midi is the answer, and the Ace Mini is the one you will grab on a Saturday.