Entrepreneur promotes UK-made leathergoods
UK-based entrepreneur Deborah Meaden has a launched a new retail venture, which aims to promote and sell the best of UK manufactured goods, including leathergoods made from leather tanned in Somerset.
Textile firm The Merchant Fox, which Ms Meaden co-owns, has established links with manufacturers and artisan producers from around the UK, to sell luxury products that complement its own Somerset-woven flannels.
“They are definitely aspirational goods and unashamedly high-end,” said Ms Meaden. “It’s not about the label, but about paying the money for items that are completely made in Britain, even down to the hinges and buckles.”
The Merchant Fox has three product categories: homes and interiors, work and travel, accessories and style.
“Heritage and provenance are highly valued, but the product must also be relevant today,” added Ms Meaden.
The range includes a combination of made-to-order items, which are “rare and unavailable on the high street”.
Goods available include upholstered-to-order antique chairs and the ‘Dart’ bag, which is made in South Devon with leather sourced from a local tannery. The leather is also used by Yeovil-based tannery Pittards to make up jewellery rolls and iPad cases to Merchant Fox’s specification.
“We are looking for companies to do business with,” added Ms Meaden.
Douglas Cordeaux, who co-owns the company with Ms Meaden, said: “Fox has been producing fine woollen cloth for nearly two hundred and fifty years. Working with a carefully selected group of similarly minded producers, we’ve designed a collection of items we hope will become the heirlooms of the future.”
