On a belt-making course at Prescott & Mackay I met Sarah Ward-Hendry, who was wearing an eton blue cardigan. I noticed that her watch was also in the same bluish green. ”This is my favourite colour,” Sarah smiled.
Sarah in the Belt Making class
Sarah was obviously not a fresh hand. The way she cuts the leather, punches the holes and burnishes the edge of the belt all shows her experience. When I am still working on my first belt, she has nearly finished her second one. All this was explained when Sarah later told me that she has her own bag business – Ruxx.
We got together during lunch break and looked at Sarah’s company leaflets. The collections have a very clear selling point: rucksacks, all designed by Sarah. According to Sarah, only the finest leathers are used on her collection and every stitch is done in the UK.
Ruxx: backpacks
Sarah then told me her story. “Before attending P&M, I had started my business and had started sampling but I was struggling on some techniques that I had no knowledge of. I had not been on a course for bag-making before this but had attended a short course (10 evenings) in shoemaking which helped me understand how to work with leather.”
“Then I found P&M and first attended a bag-making course with Lesley about a year and a half ago to improve some of my techniques. Lesley is so knowledgeable and the experience you gain on a 1 day or 3 day course is fantastic. The courses cover so much in such a short amount of time but with tutors who have a commercial experience as well as skills-based one. It has gone from strength to strength and the knowledge I gained from P&M was invaluable.”
Well, I couldn’t agree more. Every tutor at P&M is among the best in their areas, but what makes P&M unique is that students are given the opportunity to be taught by these professional practitioners. Things like how to solve the real problems students will meet in production and the source of suppliers are not taught in universities’ lectures.
Tutor Lesley is demonstrating one of the traditional leatherwork techniques: saddle stitch
So how does Sarah produce her bags? “I have struggled to find manufacturers in this country and when I started to look to find someone to sample my designs I thought it would be quicker and cheaper to buy the equipment and do it myself and that is how I started. I now make all my own samples and some stock but have a small producer I found by chance who does quantity for me.”
Sarah in her studio - in her garden shed
Then why Ruxx? “Ruxx is just a beautiful name that says it all, it relates back to my core product ‘the rucksack’ but I just love the look of the name and I think it represents quality too. It combines clever design with luxurious leathers, making rucksacks desirable not just practical.”
When I asked Sarah why she still came to the belt-making course since she has already got so many skills, she said: “I am now just gaining further knowledge on belts for my accessories section. I love P&M and will continue to use them for furthering gaps in my knowledge.”
Just when I am writing this blog entry, I received an email from Sarah telling me that her Ruxx bag was on Grazia Daily today. Well done Sarah!
Jessie bag from Ruxx
See more RUXX bags from Sarah: www.ruxx.co.uk
Tags: bag-making, Belt Making, ruxx, sarah ward-hendry, start up business, student testimonial
Recent Comments