From the first machine to 2000 bags

It all started with this old sewing machine from the 90s. My very first one , which I received when I was 17. Over 20 years ago already! Today, Velocidade produces nearly 2,000 bags entirely by hand, with six industrial machines running every day in the workshop. A long journey, stitch by stitch! From the first machine to the evolution of Velocidade during its first year, here are some archival images. Back then, between recording sessions, the machine sat next to the microphones and guitars. I experimented with colors, shapes, fabrics… Inspired by my outings in nature here in Ariège, where every detail eventually became the idea for a bag.

My first steps in sewing began when I was 17, and I enrolled at the Chapitô school in Lisbon, a circus school where I specialized for three years in sewing, pattern making, and costume design. I've always kept that sewing machine close to me—even when I came to live in France 14 years ago. And it was with this very machine that I made my very first prototype bags, to carry a few things when I went running at Lake Montbel or in the mountains for trail running.

Between my two jobs before Velocidade, that of musician and photographer, the machine would settle wherever it found space. But it never stopped running when it needed to.

Those first months of sewing—long before I even imagined creating Velocidade—were filled with curiosity, creativity, and simple joy: making panniers for my 1995 bicycle, bought two years before I received my sewing machine. Two faithful companions on the road, remaining in perfect harmony… more than 20 years later.

Inspired by the nature that surrounds us here in Ariège, by these sublime landscapes where we chose to raise our little family, I let myself be carried away by this energy. I had a deep desire for this project to become my next career, a space where I could apply my knowledge of the world of sewing and design. Very quickly, the search for materials began, driven by the desire to create a meaningful project: seeking out products made in France, reducing our carbon footprint, manufacturing locally, and choosing the right textiles. Little by little, the first ideas took shape.

The purchase of our first two industrial sewing machines marked a turning point: the moment our small, artisanal project transformed into a real workshop . We were fortunate enough to find our first Juki industrial sewing machine in Ariège, near Saint-Girons, at the home of a lovely seamstress who was retiring. A few months later, we took the van again to pick up a Pfaff cylinder arm sewing machine, essential for facilitating certain tasks impossible to perform on a simple flatbed machine.

Today, Velocidade has nearly 2,000 bags made entirely by hand . In the workshop, six industrial machines run every day — a gentle hum that tells the story of the journey.

And what's next? It continues to unfold, stitch by stitch, bag by bag. Always with the same desire: to create pieces that last, that travel, that accompany adventurers and bring people together around the joy of riding—whether the adventure is small or grand. And that first machine will always remain there, in a corner of the workshop. To remind me of where I come from, my humble beginnings, my roots in Lisbon… and those precious moments spent learning alongside my grandmother , around that beautiful machine that started it all.