The art of working with resources offered by nature and transforming them into objects is one of the most significant legacies of humankind.

Vegetable fibres, such as reeds, were one of the first natural resources available to all. In Portugal, the tradition of manually gathering the reed takes place in the summer months, with a knife, near swampy land or plucked by the root. There is a traditional way of washing and trimming the ends and putting them to dry in the shade, after they begin to turn yellow they are then placed in the sun to dry further. They are later beaten and flattened to stay soft. At this stage, finally, the reed is dyed in bright colours after which it takes hours of detailed handiwork to turn the fine stems into objects, such as suitcases and bags. These items are born of tradition, but today have the contemporary imprint of our Victoria Handmade partners. The project from 3 generations that constitutes Victoria Handmade reflects, not only the preservation of Portuguese customs, but presents an eco-friendly concept and values the items in a sustainable and high quality manner. It is for this reason that Mar d’Estórias, in its preoccupation with the selection of products, is proud to have this brand represented in its store, because from the preparation of the reed to the weaving on a manual loom, it is engraved by traditional standards and results in an appreciation of what is Portuguese, presenting different, innovative and extremely contemporary pieces of handicraft. With Victoria Handmade the traditional is certainly also contemporary.