Reclaimed leather. 8 out of 10 cows prefer it.

Reclaimed Leather. 8 out of 10 cows prefer it.

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About Our Leather

As we get older, we forget to prioritise ourselves. We work really hard but often aren’t rewarded like we reward others. You know what I mean. Toddlers just need to look at the potty and they get a shiny sticker for their effort and older kids will do almost anything for a handful of sweets (other types of parenting that don’t involve bribery are available). But as we become adults, no-one buys us a copy of “Vladimir Putin: Life Coach” to say well done for not screwing up that big meeting, or surprises us with the death star waffle maker we had our eye on for managing to look after the kids for a whole weekend without a trip to A&E. And what about your friends and family – don’t they deserve something that you didn’t order yesterday from Amazon Prime? They do put up with you after all….(only joking, I’m sure you are lovely)

All my handmade products are made with reclaimed leather, mostly from old sofas, and reclaimed, recycled or repurposed textiles. These sofas may well be at the end of their first life, but still have lots more life to give to a new owner.

Where do I get my old sofas from? People often give up their unwanted item voluntarily, calling my emergency rehoming number or simply dropping it off at my front door on a flying motorbike. But unscrupulous owners sometimes abandon their sofas on a street or in a field. Unloved and unwanted they are left to their own devices until the sofacatcher is sent out to round up the poor unsuspecting furniture and take it to The Dump.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With a little TLC, a wash and a massage with some homemade leather lube, some soft music and candles (soy of course, I’m not a neanderthal) these sofas can be transformed into stunning luxury bags and accessories. The leather, made soft from a thousand bottoms, is luxurious to touch and best of all, because of the life they have had before, each and every piece is unique.

What better way to celebrate success or friendship?

When you buy from Freckle + Hide, you will feel warm and fuzzy inside. Not just because you love it (and you will), or because you are buying something made completely by hand, but because by buying one you are rehoming a part of a poor, abandoned sofa or adopting a section curtains that have become faded in the sunlight (ombre anyone?). And it will make all your friends drool (did we mention that already?) 

The natural wear of the textiles ensures that your item is truly one of a kind and that, combined with creative design and a whole lot of love, is what makes Freckle + Hide the sustainable alternative to traditional bag manufacturers.

Because life isn’t perfect, neither are our products. We embrace the ancient Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi, a concept in which the beauty of an object lies in it’s flaws. The life that our materials have lived before (we like to call it BK, before Kat), and the corresponding imperfections, are what gives the bags their personality. Mass produced products have to be perfect clones of one another. There is no scope for the 8 year old boy making your bag in Bangladesh to add a little flourish to it to make it more interesting, or design a bag around the patina on a certain bit of leather.  Our attention to detail is what (I like to think) makes F+H a little bit special.

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