Sipahi Leather Belts Made in England: A Blog Competition

For the past few months I've been wearing a beautifully made leather belt by a new company, Sipahi & Co, who manufacture in the UK. You now have the chance to win some of their products in a blog competition, but first please watch this video:

As you'll see from the video, the oak bark tanned leather is from the last existing tannery of its kind in England's West Country and the buckles are made in one of England's last foundries. It's products like this that fuel my enthusiasm for British manufacture and I'm very pleased that Sipahi & Co have agreed to offer prizes to three lucky blog readers in a competition. See below for details.

The prizes, to be won by three separate winners, are as follows:

1. One belt of your choice with personal monogramming and a cardholder with monogramming

2. One belt with personal monogramming

3. One cardholder with personal monogramming

To enter the competition simply visit Sipahi & Co and sign up for their newsletter. You will be entered into the draw for one of the three prizes. Entries close Friday 8th December. Sipahi & Co will announce the winner after that date.

This is a collaboration with Sipahi & Co.

Acassi: Tweed & Leather Bags Made in England

Acassi (link below) is a British brand making bags for men. Launched in 2016 by founder Julie Paisley, it uses British made and sourced materials, including Harris tweed, high quality leathers and solid brass hardware. 

Julie abandoned her career as a photographic stylist after a holiday to Harris in The Outer Hebrides opened her eyes to the beauty and craftsmanship of Harris tweed and she decided to make bags incorporating this colourful and iconic cloth. Determined to develop a brand of her own, rather than other people's, she worked on blending colours of tweed with high quality leathers. She visualised her brand being British made, using the best quality leathers in amazing colours. She designed her first bag and Acassi was born.

Julie was determined to manufacture in the UK and she told me:

"It is important to me that the manufacturing of my products remains in the UK, keeping alive traditional skills, supporting British manufacturing and very importantly to me being able to control the ethical side of my brand. To help preserve the traditional heritage of UK Industries, to avoid the ‘Fast Fashion’ of today and to ensure the makers of my products have safe working conditions".

The bags are beautifully made; the leather soft and the Harris tweed full of colour on the Marton Messenger which I've been road testing. Inside is roomy, with plenty of nooks and crannies for your belongings. Priced from £465, these are high quality pieces of British leather work.

To see more information and to buy Julie's bags, visit her website here.

This feature is unsponsored. I was sent a bag for review. All views are my own.

AG'E-MES: Bags Designed and Made in Britain

A new brand on the block, Ag'e-Mes design and make all the components for their bags in Britain. From Northampton, Walsall and Dundee, parts come together in Suffolk to form luggage for business and travel. The products include rucksacks, soft luggage, shoulder bags and leather accessories. I will be trying them soon, but have no reason to doubt the construction and design from the images I've seen. For all keen to buy British and lovers of good design and manufacture: See AG'E-MES. Please try for yourselves and report back.

Campbell Cole Simple Collection: British made leather accessories

Campbell Cole's products are infused with a minimalist, high quality design ethic that always leaves me totally impressed. I've featured their British-made products here before. The products in the Simple Collection are made from Italian vegetable tanned leather and develop a patina of age, looking better and better as they're used. 

I've used one of their key wraps for a few years and it's never let me down - as well as looking good. The Simple A5 pouch, leather on one side and suede on the other, either slips inside a brief case or can be used to carry all those little objects (keys, wallet, passport, phone) that would otherwise ruin the carefully tailored lines of one's jacket or trousers.

I'm in awe of this young enterprise. They've never compromised on their pursuit of the highest quality and design. If these objects were embossed with other certain international high-luxury fashion names they would cost several times as much and wouldn't be as good quality (and probably be made in Asia). There are other pouches, wallets and holder in the Simple range. Go to Campbell Cole to find out more.

I was sent some of these objects for review. I've received no compensation for this feature and the views expressed are entirely my own.

Albam leather belts: made in London

I was sent a leather belt recently by Albam, a British brand I've been meaning to cover for some time and hope to look at  in more detail in future. The belts are hand-crafted in London using traditional leather working techniques. Made from vegetable tanned cowhide, they come in various colours which will mature with age, as the best leathers do. 

Mine is beautifully made and will no doubt last for decades, improving in looks as it ages. The belts come in a variety of sizes and are limited in availability. £99 from Albam.

Emma Cornes talks about her British-made bags and manufacturing in the UK

Emma Cornes grew up in the Tweed Valley where here father was a wool-producing sheep farmer. It's therefore natural, perhaps, that she should have become a passionate producer of British-made bags, designing and selling her products from her base in Cheshire. 

Many of Emma's bags are designed for men, so I asked Emma to tell us something about her business. For more information on the bags, or to visit her shop, go to her website.

Last year’s Sadler messenger bag. Emma plans to launch this year’s version with leather base in Autumn 2014.

Emma's Cheshire studio - leatherwork laid out ready for another batch of bags

"How it all began

It all started with a little domestic sewing machine at the kitchen table. That and a love for Scottish woven cloth and a frustration at not being able to find a new bag. 

I’m the kind of person who only ever has one bag at a time. It has to work for every occasion. I’d use them until they were threadbare, then struggle to find a replacement. I guess I probably shouldn’t be a bagmaker, but it turns out I’m not the only person who uses bags this way.

Emma's range of iPad sized Fairweather messenger bags, including a couple of special editions in Dashing Tweeds cloth

I started my bag making journey with the source of all knowledge - Google. A few YouTube tutorials later I just got stuck-in. The first months were spent making really awful bags, but after a while I had a few that were acceptable enough to take along and test at a few local markets. 

After a while I was getting the hang of things and people liked what I was doing. And once word got round loads of people offered my help with everything from leatherwork to coping with cash flow.

Emma's stand at Olympia in 2014 - how things have moved on

Almost two years to the day since I first fired up my little Singer I found myself knocking at the door of a noisy Victorian building in the Midlands. I was there to deliver materials for our first batch of bags to be made by a manufacturer rather than by myself.

Why outsource our manufacture?

2013 was crazy. I made and sold just under 300 bags, got an online shop up and running, exhibited at 17 shows up and down the country, designed and launched 10 different products…The problem was I had no time to do anything else. I was making lots of bags, but had no time to tell anyone about them. Something had to change.

My husband Pete joined the business full time in January. The first and biggest decision we made was to move manufacture out of our house to free up out time. After some research and a bit of experimenting we decided we’d like to hire the service of another manufacturer. 

Emma's bags were originally designed for women, but her simple, classic designs have proved popular with men.

How did we find our manufacturer?

They found us. We’re fortune that the British manufacturer we’ve decided to use actually approached us at an event. From their initial enthusiasm about working with us to the ease of getting great samples made I know they’re going to make a great job. I suspect I’ll be one of the few people who can tell the bags I’ve made apart from the ones they’re making right now – and that’s nothing to do with quality, just the quirks of different sewing machines.

Events like Meet the Manufacturer in London in June have sprung up since I started – I wish I could’ve gone along to something like this a year ago.

What am I working on now?

Since handing over the manufacturing I’ve got time for the fun bit again – designing bags and making prototypes. The first on my list in to create a new version of my Sadler messenger bag (Sadler, not Saddler, named after my friend Tim). This year the Sadler is going to have a full grain leather base and I complete re-design of the internal pockets. Hopefully my new Sadler bags will be ready for the Autumn.

Although I started with the aim of making bags for women it turns out that men love our bags too. And not just to buy as gifts. Last year our messenger bags went to just about as many men. So if you’d like an Emma Cornes bag made by me, Emma, you’d best hurry up. The new bags should arrive in July."