Inside Oliver Co.

Oliver Co. began with fifty wallets. Matthew Oliver, a product designer drawn to the possibilities of new materials, had them made from a leather alternative incorporating apple waste and sold them to friends and family. It was a modest beginning for a business concerned with an unusually intimate object: something carried close to the body, opened several times a day and rarely replaced on a whim.

Now based in Bermondsey, South London, the label makes vegan wallets and cardholders with the attentiveness of a design studio. Look closely and the interest is in the arrangement: the sweep of a pocket opening, a folded spine, a card positioned where a thumb can reach it. These details give Oliver Co.’s material experiments a practical setting.

From the drawing table to Istanbul

A wallet is a compact exercise in construction. Each additional pocket brings another layer; each fold adds thickness. The challenge is to provide enough room while preserving the proportions of the closed object. Oliver Co.’s designs make that negotiation visible, with curved openings and staggered compartments that help separate the contents without an elaborate fastening.

The company’s production partner is a family-run workshop in Istanbul, established in 2000 and specialising in small leather goods. The relationship began in early 2020, with a video call and samples that persuaded the London team they had found the right makers. According to Oliver Co., working with its newer materials has involved developing tools and techniques suited to them.

That is a more revealing account of craft than an adjective on a label. A material must be cut, folded, stitched and finished successfully before its story has much bearing on the object in your hand. On these wallets, the painted edges and folded spines are worth noticing: construction details that also contribute to the finished line.

Three ways to carry the essentials

The formats answer different habits. Some of us carry a handful of cards and an emergency note; others need a place for cash, a travel pass and the cards used less often. The useful distinction is where those things go, and how easily they come back out.

The slim cardholder

The Premium Slim Card Holder is the most pared-back of the three. Five pockets hold up to six cards, with a central opening for folded notes or receipts. It measures approximately 10 × 7 × 0.7 cm, making it a natural choice for a small bag or a pocket where a folding wallet would feel cumbersome.

Its design remains legible when filled: outer pockets keep the most frequently used cards in view, while the central compartment takes the occasional extra. The fine crease lines beneath the openings and the stitching around the edges supply detail at the scale this object asks for. There is little surface available, so every line is noticeable.

The compact folding wallet

The Premium Compact Wallet opens into a more organised interior, with nine pockets and capacity for up to twelve cards. An outer pocket keeps a frequently used card accessible; folded notes sit in the inside back pockets. At 11 × 7 × 0.8 cm, it stays close to the cardholder’s footprint while offering more separation.

There is an appealing economy to the arrangement. A card used at every stop can remain outside, while the others are tucked away. The folded spine and painted edges keep the outline neat, and the model includes RFID shielding. As with any wallet, its filled shape will depend on how much you put inside it.

The wallet for banknotes

For those who use cash regularly, the Premium Compact Bill Wallet gives unfolded notes their own compartment. Its ten pockets accommodate up to twelve cards; the bill section takes currencies including US dollars, yen and UK notes. It also includes RFID shielding and an inner pocket for quick access to a frequently used card.

The dimensions—approximately 10.2 × 8.5 × 1.2 cm—reflect that additional room. This is the format to consider if folding a banknote has become an irritation, or if cash remains part of the daily routine. Keeping notes together makes the interior easier to read when it is opened.

What goes into the material

Oliver Co.’s accessories use Apple Leather and WASTEA®, two leather alternatives that incorporate by-products from food and drink production. The names introduce their origins; the complete compositions explain how they work.

Apple Leather uses residue from the apple-juice and compote industry. The recovered material is processed and combined with polyurethane, then applied to a textile backing. WASTEA® incorporates leftover tea material, combined with bio-based polyurethane and coated onto recycled polyester canvas. Oliver Co. describes WASTEA® as having 65% bio-content—a figure for the material, rather than for an assembled wallet.

Both materials are vegan and contain synthetic components. Knowing that makes the choice clearer: apple and tea by-products form part of a composite designed for repeated handling. The wallet also has linings, thread and other elements, so the specification of the chosen piece matters as much as the name of its outer material.

Oliver Co. is a certified B Corporation. The certification applies to the business and assesses its social, environmental and governance impact. Alongside the material information and its account of production, it offers another way to understand the company behind the accessory.

A colour kept close

Wallet colour has a freedom that a larger accessory sometimes lacks. A forest-green interior glimpsed as you pay, or warm walnut brown against the lining of a navy coat, can be enough. Black keeps the focus on the silhouette and the cut of the pockets. The choice can be private, with no obligation to coordinate it with the rest of an outfit.

Colour also changes how clearly the construction reads. On a lighter or richer shade, the pocket edges and stitching become more visible; in black, the same layers tend to merge into a single shape. Looking at the wallet both open and closed is more useful than choosing from a colour swatch alone.

Living with the finished piece

Oliver Co. recommends gentle cleaning with a soft, damp cloth. Give the pockets time to settle into use and avoid forcing in more cards than the format comfortably holds. Conventional leather creams are not automatically suitable for these coated materials; the care instructions for the chosen wallet are the better guide.

For someone whose wallet accompanies them everywhere, the strongest design decision may be the one they stop noticing: a pass that is always within reach, banknotes that sit neatly, a fold that fits the same pocket each morning. The Oliver Co. collection at Maison Alltrueist offers several interpretations of that familiar object, with enough attention paid to the inside to give the whole piece a purpose.