steven harkin

At 30, I bought a plot of land in New South Wales and a caravan. I lived there on my own with my dog and my horse, for 3 years, my closest neighbor was 3 miles away. To make a living, I built fences for farmers. My hobby was to make handbags with vegetable tanned leather that I shaped by moulding it, then painted.I started exhibiting my work and selling one-off pieces to collectors. At some point I moved to Bellingen, where I worked with Bruce Erskine at Awl Leather, at the Old Butter Factory.I then ended up in Canberra, at the School of Arts for a while then on my own. I started experimenting with different materials, unusual for bags: MDF, Formica, anodysed aluminium, etc...One of my aluminium bags got me an award and a trip to Europe, visiting Leather Museums and Trade Fairs and studying in Milan at the prestigious Ars Arpel School, where I did a Pattern design course.After 3 years in Northern Italy, I came to London in 2003 when I was offered to teach Accessories at London College of Fashion.In 2006, with my partner Barbara, we launched the "steven harkin" brand at PURE London. My designs are uncluttered, simple & sophisticated, functional & innovative, “practical pieces of art” as one of our customers wrote. “The Roll Royce” of handbags according to another customer. But at affordable price for the discerning buyer and independent thinker.