Mimi Berry: Luxury Leather Accessories
We're really excited to further grow our adult offering this season with the addition of stunning luxury leather accessories from Mimi Berry .
A graduate of Fashion Design at Central St Martins, Mimi Berry launched her handbag and accessories label upon completing her degree there. Her handmade designs were first sold through small boutiques and her own stall at London's famous Spitalfields Market and, whilst still firmly rooted in East London, Mimi's design studio and showroom are now based in Hackney with her luxury leather goods sold worldwide.
Whilst new shapes, colours and leathers are introduced seasonally, a clean aesthetic and utilitarian shapes are at the heart of every collection. I love the simplicity and beauty of her designs and the fact that they work so perfectly with everything I have in my wardrobe. This means a welcome end to that last minute bag swap cycle I seem to find myself in as I head out of the door each morning!
Designed and handcrafted exclusively in the UK, only the finest materials are used in production with leather commissioned to order every season from tanneries in Italy and Belgium renowned for producing leather for world famous fashion houses.
Naturally vegetable tanned leather is used in all Mimi Berry collections. Vegetable tanning is both the most environmentally friendly methods of tanning and also one of the oldest. It is a craft that has been around for many, many years - using machinery, recipes and tools that have passed through many generations and it can take anywhere up to 12 weeks to complete the process. Surprisingly perhaps, it actually has very little to do with vegetables! The leather is tanned using natural tannins typically found in tree bark, fruits and leaves with the raw skins of leather treated in either huge wooden drums or submerged on wooden racks in pits in the ground.
This method lends itself to showing the material in its most beautiful and natural state, flaws and all. No two pieces are the same, every single one is unique with variations in thickness, colour and texture. These are lifelong pieces that will stay with you forever and with that time you will witness their beauty evolve.
We are thrilled to join a small collective of UK stockists carrying this beautiful brand and have selected 8 beautiful pieces for our first season. Choose from satchels, crossbody bags and purses in both biscuit and black - some in smooth leather, the others grainy but every one just so beautifully crafted.
For myself I have chosen the Lea Crossbody Bag and Roxy Purse in Black. I just love the feel and look of the grain on the leather and the bag is the perfect size for everyday essentials with the added bonus of not being so big that I find myself carrying around lots of unnecessary extras (never mine, always belonging to the kids).
Mimi Berry, luxury leather accessories, online now.