How to Care for The Row Leather, Suede and Raffia Bags
The first thing you register about one of these bags is everything it leaves out. Nothing to protect: no logo plaque, no coated canvas to wipe down, no heavy hardware taking the knocks. What you have instead is a lot of exposed surface: calfskin with the grain on show, lambskin linings, suede that takes a mark from a glance, and in summer a raffia weave left entirely unsealed. The care burden of The Row bags sits almost entirely on the material rather than on any finish laid over it. The result is a bag that is simple to maintain and merciless when you get it wrong.
Material is the organising principle here, because that is how the decisions actually break down. Opposite treatment goes to a grained calfskin tote and a suede top handle from the same season, while a sisal bag is different again.
A necessary caveat on care instructions
The Row issues no public care protocol for its bags. No manual, no published cleaning chart, no brand-approved product line accompanies them. This is material-appropriate general guidance, built on how calfskin, lambskin, suede, canvas and raffia behave, not on instructions issued by the label. Treat it the way a good leather specialist would: carefully, conservatively, always leaning toward doing less. A definitive brand-issued cleaning routine for these bags does not exist, so anyone who presents one is filling a gap rather than quoting a source. Before anything goes onto a bag you care about, ask a professional.
Behaviour beats product, every time
Everyday handling is where most damage to a good bag starts, so the fixes are behavioural. Overfilling distorts a soft silhouette faster than anything else, and owners make it most often with the Margaux and the Park Tote. Those belted side gussets on the Soft Margaux are for adjusting https://yslbags.org/tote-bags/ the shape, not so you can force more into it. Sun dries leather out and fades it; radiators and car dashboards do it faster. Rain is harder on unfinished surfaces than people assume, and suede and raffia have next to no defence against it. Sun, heat and water avoided will do more for a bag than anything sold in a bottle.
- Empty the bag out before it goes into storage, receipts included, along with anything that can transfer colour.
- Do not hang a soft bag by its handles for long stretches, because the handle drop will stretch.
- Put pens, keys and cosmetics in a pouch rather than loose against the lining.
- Pale calfskin and untreated suede want clean hands.
Calfskin, from smooth to polished saddle
Calfskin carries the line and it is the most forgiving material in it. Where smooth calfskin shows scuffs and shine, matte grained calfskin hides them, and polished saddle leather sits between them. Day-to-day care amounts to buffing with a soft dry cloth after use, following the grain and giving attention to the corners and base where dirt collects. Sparingly and infrequently are the operative words for a neutral conditioner, tested first on a hidden panel. An over-conditioned hide darkens unevenly, turns tacky and loses the structure you want to keep. Pale calfskin will also take dye from dark denim, so keep light bags away from indigo, and never scrub a transferred mark, because scrubbing only spreads it.
Nappa and lambskin, mostly on the inside
Nappa and lambskin show up more as linings than exteriors, which changes how you protect them. Lambskin lines the Margaux Shoulder; the Bourse Clutch has a calfskin exterior and a nappa lining — which puts the softest material in the bag right where your keys sit. Both mark easily, both are exceptionally soft, and neither rewards any attempt to work on it. A soft dry cloth, applied lightly and rarely, is the whole treatment. Skip conditioner entirely, because they are supple to begin with, and over-treatment leaves a greasy sheen you cannot remove. Protection here means a pouch, not a product.
Suede, the most demanding material in the line
At this label suede is consistently dearer, and it demands a matching increase in care. Look at observed 2026 market prices and the gap is obvious: India 10.00 is $3,850 in leather and $5,370 in suede, while Agnes 15 goes $5,000 in leather against $5,800 in suede. That premium buys nap — which flattens, absorbs and stains more readily than any finished hide. The point most owners miss is simple: suede care is mechanical rather than chemical. A dedicated suede brush, worked gently in a single direction, raises the nap and clears surface dust, and that alone handles most routine wear. Anything wetter than that belongs to a professional.
- After each wear, brush lightly along the nap, not a scrub across it.
- A wet bag should dry naturally at room temperature, away from radiators and hairdryers, then brush it once it has dried completely.
- Take dry marks off with a suede eraser, using minimal pressure.
- Anything oily, coloured or set goes to a leather specialist rather than attempting it yourself.
What should never touch suede makes a short, absolute list: no leather cream, no conditioner, no wet wipes, no soap and no water-based cleaner. Matted nap or a ring that shows in every light is the result. Regular brushing achieves more across a year than any treatment, which makes prevention, not repair, the realistic standard.
Raffia, sisal, canvas, nylon, silk and satin
These are the least serviceable materials in the brand’s range, and buy them knowing it. Because these are not tanned surfaces, there is nothing to condition and no way to refinish a stained panel. Canvas and nylon wear well but react badly to solvents and hard scrubbing, which distorts the weave and leaves a clean patch that reads as damage. Silk and satin pieces — the small evening bags and knotted crossbody shapes among them — mark permanently from water and skin oils. Spot-clean with a barely damp cloth and blot quickly — that is the only home treatment worth trying on any of them. Because there is no repair to fall back on, keep them out of the rain and away from sunscreen.
| Material | Everyday care | Never do this |
|---|---|---|
| Grained and smooth calfskin | A soft, dry cloth; neutral conditioner sparingly and rarely | Conditioning frequently, or soaking a stain |
| Nappa or lambskin | Soft cloth, dry, light pressure | Conditioner or cream of any kind |
| Suede nap | Suede brush and eraser; professional cleaning for stains | Cream and soap, wet wipes, any water-based cleaner |
| Raffia and sisal, canvas and nylon | Spot-clean, blot, and let it air dry | Dunking, solvents, or scrubbing hard |
| Satin and silk | Professional cleaning; keep it dry | Trying to clean it yourself |
Hardware, linings and the bits people forget
The fittings are palladium-plated with a matte or brushed finish, and that finish is the thing to protect. Polish is designed to add shine, so it burnishes a deliberately soft surface into something that no longer matches the bag. Clean buckles and feet with a dry cloth, and dry them off if they get wet, so moisture does not sit in the join. The engraving on the Margaux buckles and base feet holds dust, and a soft brush clears it better than a cloth. The cotton herringbone linings in the Soft Margaux 10 and 12 should be vacuumed out, never washed. Check the stitching at the handle roots occasionally, because spotting a loose thread early turns a large repair into a small one.
Between wears: storage that works
Good bags deteriorate quietly in storage, and the fix costs almost nothing. Store it in its own dust bag, lightly stuffed so the shape holds without stretching the sides. Acid-free tissue works, as does a soft cotton scarf; newspaper does not, since the ink transfers. Because these silhouettes hold their shape when empty and lose it under weight, keep them upright on a shelf and never stacked under others. A dark, dry, ventilated space is the aim, and no sealed plastic boxes, which trap humidity against leather. Rotating what you carry matters more than owners expect, because a bag that rests recovers its form.
The point at which it goes to a specialist
Crossing the maintenance-to-restoration line at home is how good row handbags are ruined, and that line is clear enough. Send colour loss, ink, oil, water rings on suede and stretched handles to a leather specialist. Structural work belongs there too: loose stitching at a stress point, a lining torn away from its seam. Because techniques built for coated canvas do not transfer, ask whether the specialist has handled unlogoed luxury calfskin. A good one will test discreetly and tell you when a mark cannot be lifted cleanly, because on untreated hide, some marks simply cannot be. A single competent intervention costs less than the resale discount a botched home attempt leaves behind.