Kaki Mélanie Paris Wallet with Silver Openwork Pattern

A long zip-around wallet in khaki, cut through with openwork

The pattern is punched, not printed. Rosettes and small fans are cut straight through the khaki panel, and a paler layer underneath catches the light through every opening. Beige topstitching runs along the edges and keeps the front square. The material has a fine, slightly pebbled grain that stops the surface looking flat.

Two faces, one patterned and one plain

Turn the wallet over and nothing of the pattern remains. The back is a single uncut panel, with the zip tape running round the edge to a flat rectangular pull in a dark metal tone. That makes it a quiet object in the hand and a decorative one on a table. If the way a wallet opens is what decides it for you, see how the rest are built in the women's wallet department, shape by shape.

What the lining does with colour

All the colour is kept inside. A flowered print in pink, raspberry and ochre sits behind the card window on the inner flap, and the same print lines the coin pocket in the middle, which opens along its full length on a second zip edged in raspberry. Below the window the card slots are stepped, so the top edge of each card stays in view, and a snap button holds the flap shut. The facing panel is left bare khaki for notes. Two separate zips keep what folds away from what rattles.

How big is it, and what can you see?

Where it travels

At 19x11x2.5cm it stands upright against the side of a handbag rather than sinking to the bottom, which keeps cards reachable without emptying the bag first. It shares that spot with what else lives in the small leather goods aisle. Khaki is one of the easier shades to live with, too: it sits next to camel, burgundy, navy and black without asking to be matched.

What the material will and won't take

A barely damp cloth, drawn along the length rather than scrubbed, is all the synthetic surface needs; leave it to dry in open air. Dust settles in the cutwork, and a dry cotton bud lifts it out of the openings better than a cloth will. Do not force the zip on a full wallet, since it is the zip that holds everything else closed.