KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Clifford Tan never saw a future involving the repairing or “refreshing” of designer handbags when he was working in the corporate world.
It was only by chance that he came about this niche career. While sitting down at at a car workshop one day, he noticed different paint colours for leather car seats.
Tan then decided to investigate more and found out about re-colouring leather. His wife’s friends then entrusted him with their worn designer bags; he took them all apart and reconstructed them while studying ways of how to restore them back to their original state.
To date, he has repaired thousands of bags but the bag whisperer is still a humble man with an affable personality. Another thing he picked up while repairing bags is the ability to authenticate designer bags. Yes, he can tell a real Birkin from a counterfeit!
A purple Balenciaga that was sent for repair (left). At times I would use a sponge to apply paint on the bag (right)
Brushes of different sizes is used depending on the type of colour and bag
This 0.3mm airbrush is used to spray pigment on bags and the spray size is appropriate for certain bags (left). Sponges come in different sizes for different usage (right)
A variety of sandpaper is used to sand down material to the metal before I start working on it (left). I have all types of colours used to mix and blend to get the perfect shade (right)
Premixed colours for common bags are on the table
Sometimes it takes more than one colour to get the right shade
I also use other kinds of brushes depending on the situation (left). This leather filler is used when there is a loss of leather (right)
Once the paint is dried, you will see the colour that I have just painted
