Floto Luggage Novella Briefcase

I bought this bag for an everyday office commuter bag with some air travel to customer sites and trade shows. On the positive side I really like the styling of the bag and size of it not too large and not too small. I typically would carry a 12.5" notebook, a portfolio and some files along with office sundries such as power cords, business cards, couple of pens, etc and an occasional book or e-reader. However, my bag would not stay latched when picked up by the top handle or by having the carrying strop attached to the rings on the top flap. I changed the strap to the side rings, but it would still pop open about 40% of the time I picked it by the top handle making it a very dicey situation of losing the contents in an over head carrying bin on a plane for instance. I would label the weight of the materials I carried as medium weight I am sure lawyers or professors would weigh it down much more than I did with the amount of paper they would require to be carried or others carrying a 15" notebook. Also as a positive is that the leather had a very nice, authentic, rustic appearance to it. It wasn't very supple immediately, but I think it would have broken in and worn wonderfully.

Two other negatives to this bag besides the latch worth mentioning I too had the overpowering smell when it was new. I own a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes that are made out of high quality leather and they smelled wonderful when new so I know what new leather can smell like. The Floto bag had a much more processed or chemically smell to it. I would say it took about 2 weeks for the smell to dissipate enough to not be a nuisance. Probably could be sped up by stuffing with newspapers and changing them frequently. My other Floto bag had much less of a smell to it. The second issue I had was that the color of the leather would rub off on my light colored slacks or chinos if carrying the bag on a shoulder. Since I returned the bag (see below) I am not sure if this would have diminished or not.

When I contacted Floto about the latch issue, they told me it was a known issue with the bag and they were looking at redesigning the latch. With that being the case, I couldn't afford a replacement of the same model as I care about keeping my stuff in the bag. The did offer me a free replacement bag (Cortona) and I asked for a super strap to go with it for the trouble and they agreed so I would rate customer service as an "A", but was disappointed my original choice of bag had this issue.

I bought 2 of these, one in each color (black and brown). I bought them for my husband and he really likes them. Yes they were a little pricey,but the quality of the leather and the look of the bag is so worth the price! It has that Italian leather look that is also professional looking.The stitching contrast on the black leather I find very attractive. The leather smell is quite strong, but you can air it out for a few days to take care of that if you're not a fan.

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We got this as a father's day present for my dad. I was very impressed with the quality of the leather and the over-all craftsmanship of the briefcase. It is all-around much nicer than my Mancini briefcase and well worth the extra $150. The buckle on the front is high quality and the two front satchels are easily accessible. There is seriously nothing to complain about. I might have to buy one for myself. The leather has a more natural look, which we all liked, and the handle seemed very sturdy. I expect this product to last a long time.

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