I got my first Leica M camera in 2015 in London. I needed a strap for it and perused the selection available in the store. Like many photographers have done before, I gravitated towards the Artisan & Artist straps. I have worked with this combination every day since.

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In March of this year (2024) I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Artisan & Artist inTokyo, and had the pleasure of meeting the companies' President and CEO Enrico Domhardt and the A & A team. Enrico showed me all the products they are working on and have in production. We soon got talking about photography and camera straps, and the idea for creating a new black and white photography inspired strap emerged.

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Both the team and I did not want it to simply be a tweaked version of an existing design. We wanted to create something new, and in this strap we achieved this, while maintaining the same materials and construction methods that have made Artisan & Artist silk straps so desirable. This silk strap features construction with a flatter design than the traditional rope strap. It is flexible, allowing for easy and secure wrapping around the wrist, and has a nice supple feel afforded by the silk weaved construction.

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This means it doesn't dig into your neck in the same way a plastic or leather strap can. Due to it's flatter design than a traditional rope, it also minimises the risk of the camera rolling off the shoulder. It's a really comfortable way of carrying a camera. In terms of aesthetics, we chose a simple geometric chevron design on the inward facing side of the strap, and a different pattern for the outside one, which reminded us somewhat of the sprocket holes on a roll of film.

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I couldn't be happier with the design and functionality of the strap, and both myself and the team at Artisan & Artist hope you get as much pleasure using it as we did crafting it.