catherine edwards leather
hebden bridge
wanting to learn how to create shoes entirely by hand led me to pestering the
local clog maker to take me on as his Saturday girl, after a couple of years I
got a place at cordwainers college, then part of central and st martins. when I
finished my degree, I went straight into an apprenticeship in the west end of
london. I was very lucky as apprenticeships were and still are, very few and far
between. for 12 years, I worked exclusively for boot and shoe companies,
including john lobb, cleverly and jason amesbury, in the west end and mayfair. a
chance conversation led to a residency at the royal armories in leeds where I
spent two years working with the in-house leather worker to produce 30 pairs of
jack boots for the household cavalry. while I was there I began to think about
producing a collection of leather goods under my own name. I was encouraged when
my first show sold out completely. I have worked hard to build on that success
becoming more creative with styling and inventive with detail as the collection
has grown. I am currently working on a series of collaborations with an
intriguing range of clients: flame oz are an international troupe of fire
performers who are looking at ways of incorporating fire resistant leather into
their incredible theatre shows. drawn surface have worked on set designs in film
and television and are currently producing a range of leather and hand printed
canvas homewares with me. I am working with milliner Good Golly Miss Molly to
create a range of stunning gents headwear for various celebrities. new projects
on the horizon include a range of luxurious aprons and gentlemen's grooming
products, and more recently, I have been commissioned to produce body-worn amp
covers for a local music project.
