The hides that bind

Moss also found a visit to the Walsall Leather Museum inspiring, but meeting the two old school artisans was the “pivotal moment” that led to him quitting his previous day job and starting his own belt business.

That has now expanded to include leather wallets, bags, card holders, journals and even leather dog collars and leads due to demand. However, it is the belts that remain the main focus, and he supplies premium denim accounts such as Liquor Store in Birmingham, American Classics and Son of a Stag in London, Kafka in Aberdeen, Burg & Schild in Berlin and the Statement store in Munich.

“Having their support has proved invaluable in growing the brand,” he says. “Our growth to date has mostly been organic, with our reputation for quality driving demand for our goods.”

“The independent retailers we work with all specialise in high-end clothing and our goods sit alongside well-established brands which also helps to cultivate interest in what we do.”

Rosa Fior’s footwear story now includes her Antigone brand which currently focuses on made to order handmade sandals and bags for women – all from luxury leather sample skins and off-cuts in her studio in Hackney, east London.

After training at Cordwainers in footwear design and manufacture more than 30 years ago, Fior went on to design for a wide range of British brands including Paul Smith, Karen Millen, Next, Oasis, Radley, Hudson and Penelope Chilvers.

Wanting to learn more skills, with the support of the Leathersellers’ Foundation, Fior went to train at Capel Manor College in Enfield last year and, while she could make her sandals from scratch using very little machinery, she can now make hand-welted shoes. “I wanted to fuse the two skills of design and craft,” she explains, “and needed to expand my repertoire as sandals while technically much simpler to make aren’t great in the UK in the winter!”

“I originally trained as a designer and, while you also train in how to make, it was very much focused on design. As a designer, you usually work with factories and other artisans, so you get involved to a degree, but you’re not physically making the product,” she explains.

“I wanted a career change – to move away from the hands-off fast-paced fashion world towards the more sustainable hands-on approach. After years chasing trends, I appreciate the slower pace and therapeutic aspect of shoemaking which is a lifelong love and a wonderful craft. I have rediscovered a love of learning and there is so much to master.”

Under her eponymous brand, Martina Spetlova is best known for her intricate handwoven leather jackets and coats, which feature bold colours, geometric patterns and other design elements that make each piece dynamic. Her designs have sold in the likes of Selfridges and Dover Street Market in London, as well as Soho Home.

She has been working with leather for over a decade now, having initially been drawn to it during studying for her MA at Central Saint Martins. She says: “My background in biochemistry made me naturally curious about different materials and I was fascinated by leather’s unique qualities – it’s strong, flexible, you can raw cut it and pleat it, and it only becomes more beautiful as it ages. Leather felt like the perfect canvas for experimenting with colour, structure and texture.”

“It’s a material with endless possibilities and it’s incredibly rewarding to work with something so tangible and responsive. I love how it adapts to every touch and cut, and working with it feels like a dialogue.”

Spetlova says that working with leather allows her to explore so many different design possibilities, including reworking off-cuts that would otherwise be discarded. “It’s also very exciting to be part of a centuries old tradition and to keep pushing it forward sustainably,” she says. “My passion is rooted in transforming leather into pieces that go beyond fashion or product – they’re personal statements. They are also made to last, offering something unique in a world of mass-produced fashion.”

Having received an award from the Leathersellers’ Foundation, and with its “huge support”, Spetlova was able to take residency at Cockpit Arts for three years, which gave her the freedom and encouragement to further experiment while working alongside like-minded individuals.

“It gave me access to studio space and business guidance, allowing me to really deepen my sustainable practices in ways that would have been hard to achieve on my own,” she comments.

What each leathermaker also has in common is how each piece of leather they work with is unique. Steve Moss says: “I enjoy working with full grain leathers as they are reliably inconsistent. The finish of each hide varies and is dependent on many things, such as the diet of the animal, the tanning process and how the dye is absorbed by the individual hide.

“It means the original markings and scars are all visible in their natural glory, so each item produced from a full grain hide is unique and will age and patina slightly differently. It makes it the purest of leathers to work with.”

Rosa Fior is committed to working with leather as there is so much variety. She says: “Each skin, being a natural material, is different from another. The rules you have for working with one piece might not work for another, so you have to adapt all the time and add to your skill set. It’s not like using a roll of fabric.

“As leather comes from an animal, there can be unique elements to the hide. It may have rubbed up against a tree leaving its mark on the leather and you have to work around that. Or it may be more stretchy, even if it looks the same as a previous batch of leather you’ve worked with, so you have to get around that. It can provide endless challenges and problems to solve.”

Being what she calls a “lifelong learner”, “As a result of the support from the Leathersellers, I got the opportunity to study with Bill Bird, the eminent bespoke orthopaedic shoemaker. I wanted to gain experience in making shoes for people with walking difficulties, deformities or for those with who can’t just buy shoes in a shop. On the two-year Pattenmakers Certificate in Bespoke Orthopaedic Footwear I’m learning about solving physical challenges rather than just focusing on design. I see it as an opportunity to fuse the aspects of form and function.”

For Martina Spetlova, expanding more into home interiors is on the horizon. She says: “It feels like a natural progression, allowing me to explore with my handwoven leather textiles beyond fashion in more of a 3D space.”

“I’m excited to continue experimenting, especially with my new techniques of recrafting waste materials, and to expand further into furniture and art pieces. I see this as a way to keep evolving my leather techniques while staying true to my commitment to sustainability and traceability.”

Steve Moss is also keen to keep on experimenting and adding new products, but belts remain his main focus. “We have recently launched our ‘Japanese Series’, which is a range of goods made from artisan produced Japanese leather, but still handmade by us, combining similarly minded craftsmen from East and West,” he says.

“The leathers are premium quality, produced using traditional Japanese natural tanning methods. The natural colour wallet is Shinki Shell Cordovan, and the belts are made from a leather produced by a family run tannery in Himeji, using hides from local Japanese cattle, naturally vegetable tanned to a very high standard.”

“We have also been working with a local Silversmith in the historic Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham to produce leathergoods with solid silver hallmarked buckles and wallets.”

“The mindset behind this was to work with like-minded artisans to help us fuse different artisanal crafts together; jewellery and leatherwork. We are also working on handmade watch straps at the moment, with handmade silver and gold buckles.”