Who am I?
I am Adrian and I have a serious leather addiction! My early life was spent in the United Kingdom but have also lived in South Africa where I studied and met my wonderful wife, Isabel. We have had the chance to see a large number of countries in both Europe and Africa from the back of two motorcycles. Currently we reside in Berkshire with completely mad Cocker Spaniel Delta (aka Da D-Man).
Why Leatherwork?
Previous to starting leather crafting I worked in IT but when a project I was working on came to an end in 2020 I felt it was time to let my creative side loose. I found some leather offcuts online together with a cheap set of leather tools from Amazon and made myself a keyring and bookmark together with a case for my power bank and I was hooked. I then wanted to make something special for my wife’s' birthday, something with a lot of 'me' in it but was stumped for ideas. After watching some YouTube videos, I decided somewhat foolishly to make my wife a leather purse which drew some positive attention, interest and enquires and so Adrian North Leatherworks was born. Since then, I have looked and watched and learned so much from others and in my own journey, I have discovered wonderful leathers and threads and have tried to integrate my life story into my work.
How I work
I knew when I started to set up the studio that I had to set myself a strict set of principles I would need to follow in order to produce the highest quality leather goods I could be proud of:
- All items would be completely handcrafted by myself at my studio
- All items would be to my own designs
- Build something of me into everything I make
- Only the highest quality materials and techniques would be used
- Only items I would be happy to own would be made
My design philosophy is to produce simple, colourful but minimalist products that will be functional, long-lasting and will mould themselves over time to the individual owner: To make items that don't get older only better, something only an artisan crafter can realistically deliver. With the proper care and maintenance each of the products I create will be capable of being used for many years.
For you
I would personally like to invite you to wander through the products shown here and if you have questions about any of them or if you have an idea for something bespoke, I would be happy to help.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my shop and listening to my story. Much love!
Adrian North