BOYCIANA: The Moment of Landing
In the iconography of Japan and Korea, there is a bird said to bring good fortune for a long life: Ciconia boyciana, the Oriental Stork. Closely related to the European White Stork, it carries its own unmistakable traits: a black bill, pale eyes and a vivid red ring of bare skin that frames them. In Japan it is known as the Konotori; in China and Korea it has been a symbol of dignity and longevity for centuries. These were the qualities Tanja Storchli had in mind when she gave her newest bag its name.
The Boyciana is a clover-leaf handbag, geometric and nature-inspired, launched in mid-February 2026. Tanja Storchli spent just over a year bringing it to life: drawing, three-dimensional visualisation, wearing, adjusting, wearing again. “I have always had a love of geometric forms and then began to play with them, together with what nature offers in terms of geometry, with what is connected to luck and emotion”, she says. Just as the Konotori is immediately recognisable in its clarity, the Boyciana has a form that stays with you.
The Silhouette of Flight
Storks have a clear silhouette: a long neck, a precise wingspan, a shape one recognises at once. The Boyciana carries this quality in its form. It comes in two sizes, both wearable as a crossbody bag and as a top-handle bag, and both so carefully balanced that the Boyciana holds its own as an object even when it simply stands on a shelf. “When I’m not wearing it, I still see it”, says Storchli. “It’s like a painting.”
The leathers are sourced mostly from deadstock: calfskin, goatskin suede, cowhide, and for the Lamelligerus model, vegetable-tanned leather. Storchli chooses them because their individual surface character gives each piece its own identity. Since the leathers come mostly from deadstock, the combinations of different hides, textures and colourways arise only once and are never repeated.
Geometric, nature-inspired and handcrafted in every detail: the Boyciana by CICONIIDAE takes the form of a clover leaf, carries a gemstone from certified mines at its centre and bears the craft of Tuscan edge finishing along every seam. Tanja Storchli spent just over a year bringing it to life. The result is a handbag from Swiss haute maroquinerie that its wearer shapes from the very first touch — leather, thread, hardware and stone are chosen together. What emerges is a piece that will never be made again in quite the same way. Read more about her inspirations.
The Craft of Patience
In autumn 2025, Storchli spends several days in a Tuscan atelier, immersing herself in traditional edge-finishing techniques carried out entirely by hand. The edge is built up layer by layer, through shaping, application and drying times that can extend over several days. “It sharpened my eye for detail all over again”, she says. Every saddle stitch is set by hand, every edge finished manually, every closure crafted in Switzerland. “It reflects the respect and appreciation for the animal, the craft and the object itself”, says Storchli.
The Gemstone as a Stork’s Nest
At the centre of every Boyciana sits a gemstone, set into the leather. It is the resting point of the entire composition, an element that creates presence and defines the character of the bag. In the visual language of CICONIIDAE, it can be read as a nest: a point where something rests, where something stays. Just as no nest is identical to another, no stone is identical to the next.
Storchli works with more than twenty different stones: rose quartz, red tiger’s eye, malachite, tourmaline, all from certified mines, sourced through Switzerland, originating from Asia, Africa and Brazil. Each stone is personally selected, set into a leather mount and hand-stitched into place. The selection is intuitive; often it is precisely the stone that radiates an immediate presence. Only through this choice does the bag become complete.
The Moment of Landing
The Oriental Stork is a migratory bird. It moves between regions, climates and seasons, and yet returns, always, to the same place. Storchli’s journey mirrors this: twenty years in the international fashion capitals, then CICONIIDAE at Lake Lucerne, in Kastanienbaum in the canton of Lucerne. The brand name is the scientific designation for the stork family and, at the same time, a quiet homage to her own family name. “Switzerland is part of what shaped me, personally and in my bags”, she says. “That encompasses precision, a clear sense of line, fine detail.”
The Bain-Altagamma study “Finding a New Longevity for Luxury” 2025 describes exactly this shift in the market: leather goods are losing ground where price increases have replaced genuine creative renewal. What is growing is demand for pieces with a real craft story, traceable provenance and authentic personalisation. Lineapelle in Milan and Premiere Vision in Paris have established this as a strategic direction: Circular Craftsmanship, traditional techniques, materials with history.
The Boyciana has been available since mid-February 2026. The Oriental Stork has landed in Kastanienbaum.
The Boyciana — the full story
Tanja Störchli on clover-leaf geometry, the craft of patience and the stone that almost chooses itself. And everything you need to know before you compose yours.
Interview Tanja Störchli: “The Clover Leaf Was Missing from the World of Bags”
Tanja Storchli on the Oriental Stork, a year of drawing and wearing, and the Boyciana, the new CICONIIDAE model that its wearer shapes from the very first touch.
Co-Creation of The Boyciana
Timelessly crafted. Individually composed: The Boyciana is a clover-leaf handbag from the world of haute maroquinerie, geometric and nature-inspired, launched in mid-February 2026.
