Log driving era in Canada

Can a suitcase have a sense of place? Could it have a soul? Can a carry-on carry history in its linings? When it travels to the furthest reaches of the globe, does it transport some vision of where it’s going?

These are the questions that inspired Charles and Simon in their quest to design a new kind of luxury travel piece. One that allies history and tradition with the gleaming precision of modern engineering. One that transcends the limits of era and convention. Their search took them both back in time. 

Back to a time when Canada was a still-young nation of expansive forests and enterprising peoples.

 From the middle of the 19th century, log driving became the main transportation method of the early logging industry. Intrepid log drivers (or draveurs in Quebec)  travelled timber down unforgiving rivers and waterways, from the forest to sawmills. It was a gruelling and dangerous work. Log drivers needed extreme agility when standing on the moving logs and running from one to another. Not all completed the journey, many lost their lives.  

Some trunks never reached their destination and sank to the bottoms of lakes or rivers either. They've been sleeping deep down ever since.

With the same spirit of trailblazing, we decided to return to these now-quiet water to rescue these long-slumbering sunken giants.

We choose to fashion our Original collection from this rescued century-old timber to celebrate our Canadian roots. Much more, log drive wood is known for being more dense and stable than wood from our days. As winters were more rigorous, trees grew slower. By being pioneers in the use of recovered logs, Charles Simon also makes an environmental statement. By extracting them, we clear the beds of waterways, avoiding deforestation and bringing nature back to life in the hand of craftsmen.

The history and natural diversity of this wood make each Original piece truly unique and imbued with the soul of our ancestors.