The Miam Belt
A creation of TOUJOURS which combines utility and effectiveness with beauty, our principle, thought with Armand Arnal, the wonderful wizard chef of la Chassagnette, and with the leather savoir-faire of La Botte Gardiane « Living Heritage Companies », the Camargue’s golden nuggets
The belt to cook which sets hands free
€490.00
La Botte Gardiane
Established in 1958, La Botte Gardiane specializes in handcrafted boots, shoes and sandals, all 100% made in France. The workshop is located in the Camargue, in the southeast of France, between Nîmes and Montpellier. The Camargue is the land of the “gardians”, the French cowboys who oversee bulls and cows and for whom the boots were originally designed. These specific boots require a high degree of sturdiness and comfort. This is why La Botte Gardiane has built its reputation on the quality of its products, preserving original craftsmanship and using top-quality leather.
In 2007, La Botte Gardiane was certified “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” by the French government. This label rewards outstanding companies for their specific heritage, their traditional and rare “savoir-faire”, and their passion for their work.
All the shoes are made with the best leathers mainly from France, like tannery Degermann, that also supplies Hermes, Ralph Lauren and other luxury brands. This particular leather, tanned with hot vegetable fat, is very supple and resistant to water. The leather is also tanned with vegetable dyes using oak, rosemary and chestnut. All products are of a superior quality and entirely French-made.
This chef belted bag, the Miam belt, is made in France, in Aigues-Vives, in Camargue, in La Botte Gardiane’s workshops, a living heritage company, and made by leather craftsmen
Made in soft calfskin leather « Hydrocalf » from Degermann, a waterproof leather, with stainless treatment
A veal whole calf leather natural, supple, soft and silky. This leather ages well
For the knives holder, they have used calfskin SUPORTLO. Double tanned calfskin, pure aniline, bold leather that perfectly embodies the beauty of the full grain calf. Snap fastener and buckle in brass.
The Miam belt is made of two series of pockets on each hip :
Right pockets :
- 1 big pocket with a flap, can be closed or can stay opened thanks to a fastening : 28cm L x 22cm H
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Inside, a smaller flat pocket : 12cm L x 8cm H
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Handle : 10cm L x 4cm H
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A flat pocket 8cm L x 15 cm H, lined with two tube pockets : 4cm L x 14cm H
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A phone pocket 8cm L x 16cm H
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A fastening to hold a knife holder
Left pockets :
- 1 big pocket with a flap, can be closed or can stay opened thanks to a fastening : 28cm L x 22cm H
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Inside, a smaller flat pocket : 12cm L x 8cm H
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1 pocket 18cm L x 15cm H
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Handle : 10cm L x 4cm H
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A flat pocket 8cm L x 15 cm H, lined with two tube pockets : 4cm L x 14cm H
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A fastening to hold a knife holder
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1 knife holder 22cm L x 6 cm / 1 knife holder 18cm H x 4cm
Made in soft calfskin leather « Hydrocalf » from Degermann, a waterproof leather, with stainless treatment.
Clean any stain with a clean soften cloth (or wet sponge), glycerin soap, then grease with a hydrating balm. The aim is to nourish the leather. Balm should be preferred to a leather polish, which is more like make up, with a covering finish, not advised, unless the leather color is fading out
Worship side
Drawn for deTOUJOURS by Isabelle Crampes and thought with Armand Arnal, the wonderful wizard chef of la Chassagnette, and with the leather savoir-faire of La Botte Gardiane « Living Heritage Companies », the Camargue’s golden nuggets.
A belt with a lot of pockets, beautiful and useful, which sets hands free and cinches the waist, is something that already exists among handymen, but more on the rough side. We also might find some other options in the hunt world, but at the minimum.
deTOUJOURS, for its first creation, had to begin with a special item, defined by its function, as our whole collection, useful, sturdy, made from craftsmen's know-how, and at the same time an aesthetic item, used for doing nothing.
Coming from the same wild land of Camargue, Armand Arnal, the wonderful wizard chef of la Chassagnette, near the Salins de Giraud, and who, through his cooking, contributes to the legitimacy and fame of the local fauna and flora, works on this project with the Agulhon family who has created the precious « Botte gardiane », a living heritage company which promotes leather craftsmen. They are still providing the kit for the local herdsmen, the venerable bulls keepers, a foundation of this land culture and heritage.
DeTOUJOURS aesthetic brings them together today to an exclusive creation, that sets hands free, whether they are working or dancing.
How to wear 8 essential tools around your waist, picked up by Armand Arnal, meanwhile you can come and go from the vegetable patch to the wood fire, from the pot to the chopping board ? How to have enough pockets, hooks, to take your knives, a slicer, and a spoon but also some salt, two fennels and a dish towel ?
This is a belt whose shape has been based on its function, but, as always at deTOUJOURS, this is a belt which is twisted, reinterpreted to become a fascinating fashion accessory : a belted bag, noble leather waist cincher, the possibility to set hands free, and all you need to carry while changing your outfit and giving you a breathtaking look.
Gathered around the workbench, us three have joined forces and energy, and here is the result of the union of expertise and aesthetic : beauty is useful with deTOUJOURS. It is hard to define when men have started to wear bags cinched at the waist, as it seems like they have always did. Since the dawn of time, man has always wanted to be hand-free to ride his horse, while still carrying his tools, his change or even his personal effects.
Medieval engravings have showed how men had used this leather creation back in the days : they stored carefully their seeds in it, before sowing them in the fields, but then, wore their alms purse outside the fields, cinched at the waist. Throughout the centuries, other shapes has been added to the range : from « la chatelaine » at the 16th century and the cinched pocket, a real success of the 17th century to our modern waist-bag, in the 20th century.
The sporan, a traditional Scottish purse, is a more recent and the perfect example. Cinched at the waist, it became easily essential, and not only a part of the military uniform but also became a part of the Scottish clans workwear. As men needed they hands free, the sporan was brilliantly useful.
Its use is essential for everyone who needs to be handsfree while working. The handymen waistbag is a classic piece to everyone whom hands need to be free or to reach essential tools : hairdresser, makeup artist, photographer. They all need this accessory to be an extension of their own hands, of their movement. This is the inspiration of our waisted belt, but we are already dreaming of twisting it into a marvelous waist-cincher.
As the safari theme, or the workwear is coming back on the catwalks, the waist-bag is getting back on top of things. This waist-bag ancestor, glorified in several designer collections, is a fashion design safe bet. It has the power to finally release women from the yoke of wearing a handbag, and men from the yoke of having full pockets : eventually let’s be hands free !
The belt to cook which sets hands free