Maintaining The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags in Good Order

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. The trade is exposed surface: calfskin that shows its grain, lambskin linings, suede that marks if you look at it wrongly, and in summer a raffia weave with nothing sealing it. The material, not a finish laid over it, carries almost the whole care burden of The Row bags. That makes them simple to look after and unforgiving when you get it wrong.

The guide below is arranged by material, because that is where the real decisions sit. Opposite treatment goes to a grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle from the same season, while a sisal bag is different again.

An honest caveat about care instructions, first

The Row publishes no public care protocol for its bags. There is neither a manual nor a published cleaning chart, and no brand-approved products are sold with them. Treat all of it as material-appropriate general guidance, drawn from how calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia behave rather than from instructions issued by the label. A good leather specialist would be cautious, conservative and biased toward doing less, which is the right posture here. No definitive brand-issued cleaning routine exists row-fashion.com/shoulder-bags for these bags, so anyone who presents one is filling a gap rather than quoting a source. Ask a professional before applying anything at all to a piece you care about.

Behaviour beats product, every time

Routine handling causes most damage to a good bag, so the fixes are behavioural. With the Margaux and the Park Tote in particular, overfilling is the usual mistake, which is also the fastest way to distort a soft silhouette. The belted side gussets on the Soft Margaux adjust the shape, and are not a licence to force more in. Sunlight dries and fades leather; radiators and car dashboards do it faster. Unfinished surfaces suffer more from rain than people expect, and suede and raffia are close to defenceless. Nothing on a shelf matches the effect of keeping a bag clear of sun, heat and water.

• Take everything out before you store it, receipts included, along with anything that can transfer colour.
• Hanging a soft bag by its handles for long stretches will stretch the drop, so do not do it.
• A pouch keeps pens, keys and cosmetics off the lining.
• Clean hands before touching pale calfskin or untreated suede.

Calfskin: smooth, grained, saddle and polished

The most forgiving material in the line is also its backbone. Where smooth calfskin shows scuffs and shine, matte grained calfskin hides them, with polished saddle leather between the two. Routine care is a buff with a soft dry cloth after use, going with the grain and concentrating on the corners and base, where dirt gathers. Neutral conditioner is fine sparingly and infrequently, and both words matter, provided you test it on a hidden panel first. Too much conditioner darkens hide unevenly, creates a tacky surface and takes out structure you wanted. Dark denim also transfers dye onto pale calfskin, so keep light bags away from indigo, and never scrub a transferred mark, since scrubbing spreads it.

Inside jobs: nappa and lambskin

These two appear more often as linings than exteriors, which changes how you protect them. On the Margaux Shoulder the lining is lambskin, and the Bourse Clutch pairs a calfskin exterior with a nappa lining — which puts the softest material in the bag right where your keys sit. Both are exceptionally soft, both take marks easily, and neither takes kindly to being worked on. A dry soft cloth and nothing else is the correct answer, applied lightly and rarely. Because these hides are already supple, avoid conditioner completely: over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen that will not come out. The protection that works is a pouch inside the bag, never something rubbed onto it.

Suede: the most demanding material in the line

Suede is consistently the more expensive choice here, and it demands a matching increase in care. The gap is plain in observed 2026 market prices: India 10.00 runs $3,850 in leather and $5,370 in suede, and Agnes 15 is $5,000 in leather against $5,800 in suede. The premium buys a nap that flattens, absorbs and stains more readily than any finished hide. Most owners miss the key point: suede care is mechanical rather than chemical. Most routine wear is handled by a dedicated suede brush alone, worked gently in one direction so it lifts the nap and clears surface dust. Past dry brushing, it is a professional's job.

1. Brush lightly after each wear, going with the nap instead of scrubbing against it.
2. Let a wet bag dry naturally at room temperature, away from radiators and hairdryers, then brush it once it has dried completely.
3. Work dry marks away with a suede eraser and the lightest pressure.
4. Send anything oily, coloured or set to a leather specialist rather than having a go at 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, no water-based cleaner. What you get is a matted nap, or a ring that shows in every light. The realistic standard is prevention, not repair, since regular brushing outperforms any treatment across a year.

Raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon, silk and satin

These are the least serviceable materials in the brand's range, and they ought to be bought with that in mind. Neither the sisal family nor the woven raffia and linen totes are tanned surfaces, so there is nothing to condition and no way to refinish a stained panel. Hard scrubbing and solvents will distort the weave and leave a clean patch that reads as damage, even though both wear well otherwise. On silk and satin, water and skin oils leave permanent marks, including the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes. A barely damp cloth, a spot-clean and a quick blot — that is the only home treatment worth trying on any of them. Prevention does all the work here, so keep them out of the rain and away from sunscreen.

Hardware, linings and the bits people forget

The fittings are palladium-plated with a matte or brushed finish, and it is that finish you need to protect. Polish is designed to add shine, so it burnishes a deliberately soft surface into something that no longer matches the bag. Wipe buckles and feet with a dry cloth, and dry them whenever they get wet, keeping moisture out of the join. Buckles and base feet on the Margaux are engraved, and dust settles into those recesses, and a soft brush clears it better than a cloth. Vacuum rather than wash the cotton herringbone linings used in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12. Because catching a loose thread early costs a small repair instead of a large one, give the stitching at the handle roots an occasional look.

Between wears: storage that works

Most quiet deterioration happens in storage, and it costs very little to fix. Use the dust bag it came with, lightly stuffed so the shape holds without stretching the sides. Acid-free tissue and soft cotton scarves both work, but not newspaper, because the ink transfers. Because these silhouettes hold their shape when empty and lose it under weight, store bags upright on a shelf rather than stacked under others. The space should be dark, dry and ventilated, and avoid sealed plastic boxes, since they trap humidity against leather. Rotation matters more than most owners expect, because a resting bag recovers its form.

When to hand the bag to a professional

A clear line separates maintenance from restoration, and crossing that line at home is precisely how good row handbags get ruined. A leather specialist should take anything involving colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede or a stretched handle. Structural work is the same, whether that is loose stitching at a stress point or a lining torn away from its seam. Because coated-canvas technique does not carry across, ask whether the specialist has handled unlogoed luxury calfskin. Expect discreet testing, and honesty about any mark that cannot be lifted cleanly, because some marks on untreated hide never will be. One competent job costs less than the resale discount that follows a botched attempt at home.