Is that a snake in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Actually it is a snake, but I am kind of happy too.
The pouch segment is much more interesting when it comes to the materials used than the fitted cases. There is more room for experimentation, and the pouch can adopt much of the design from other small leather goods. Italian fashion house Forzieri is the first out of the gate using snakeskin in one of the collections on offer. The Ghibli is designed by Vero Pitone using python leather.
The Ghibli is a rather large pouch originally designed to house the iPhone 3G/3GS. This means that it has no problem at all accommodating the iPhone 4. It does however mean that it isn’t super tight. With three firm shakes you can get the iPhone 4 about halfway out of the pouch. This is still not a major issue, and it will not fall out unless you consciously shakes it. Just turning the pouch upside down won’t make the phone fall out. On the other hand it also means that the Ghibli has a wider range of use, as it can accommodate most smart phones. You can also use a bumper or a thin case with the pouch.
The Ghibli is a pull strap pouch. The design of the pull strap is really simple compared to other pouches. Basically it is a thick leather strap attached to one of the inside walls. You place the phone with the strap underneath. To extract simply pull the strap, and the phone emerges. 
Almost half of the phone emerges with one pull making it really easy to extract. Resetting the strap is easy, and you can tell which side is supposed to go where. When properly in place the case name is visible on the backside of the phone.
The selling point of the Ghibli is the cool material. This is my first experience with python leather, and it feels somewhat akin to fish in texture. The cool texture is organic, and really cool to caress to find lines and patterns. It does give off a strange smell to the fingers when used for a while. This is not unpleasant, and if you sniff the pouch it smells like ordinary leather. The inside of the pouch is made from a soft leather material.
Speaking of the inside I have to mention an issue with the design. As the pouch is rather large, and not fitted to the iPhone 4 it means that it doesn’t hug it tightly enough to encapsulate it. There is room for air to flow along the phone, and this creates moisture. When I pull the iPhone 4 out it emerges with condensation on the screen, and back glass. This is a problem that could have been averted slightly if a soft velvet had been used as lining. Now the screen needs a quick wipe to look fresh once it emerges.
I have had a fun time trying the Ghibli out. For one I have learnt that I am allergic or at least sensitive to snake skin. This however does not affect my final rating of the pouch, even though my eyes and fingers are tingling as I write this with the Ghibli next to me. The second interesting aspect of testing this particular pouch is thinking about the target audience for the pouch. My first thought was that this is a woman’s pouch, but the more I used it the less certain I became. The material is really cool, and battling with snakes is at least in my mind a manly duty. During history I think that women did the most killing of snakes because they had to protect the children while the men where out hunting, building railroads or fighting. I think the Ghibli is whatever you want it to be. Confident, and sexy or strong and mysterious.
As pull strap pouches go the Ghibli shows that a simple design can work well. The material is cool, and each pouch is unique with unique lines. It is a rather large pouch due to the universal nature of it, which is both a positive and a negative. It is quite bulky, and it doesn’t’ hug the phone tightly giving room for condensation. On the other hand it is an investment for future devices as well, and at $115 you want to get some time out of it. If you want a truly unique pouch definitely consider the Ghibli.
Final Rating
Ghibli at Forzieri.com $115 Available in 5 different styles.
