HOW IT BEGAN
25 years ago after graduating in a BA Hons in Applied Arts, I went on to Cordwainer’s in London, Golden Lane and learnt leatherwork. I very quickly had the dream to create my own brand, design my own products and hand make them.
I went were many artists at the time went, Hackney Wick, Whitepost Lane E9, one of the last places at the time in London with affordable art studios.
Photo by George Rex
There was nothing there, this was well before the Olympic stadium was built, it was fairly derelict, and a place that seemed on the outskirts of everything, yet I soon learned behind the graffitied empty streets were many dreamers and artists like myself creating all day, living in their spaces, working into the night hours.
I needed equipment and so I headed down to brick lane and knocked on the doors of what would soon be some of the last leather manufacturers left in London.
I miraculously found 2 sewing machines which were left behind, already 100 years old, but I knew with a bit of love and care I could get them working, and so with a tub of Ajax and a toothbrush and a bunch of new plugs, I got them going.
Winner of The Leather Worker of the Year Award
We are so proud and grateful that Natalie has won the inaugural Leatherworker of the Year Award, supported by the British Leather Industry Development Trust, including a £2,000 prize and trophy awarded at a special presentation at Eltham Palace in London on Tuesday 26 November 2024.
The award, supported by British Leather Industry Development Trust, celebrates a heritage craftsperson who has made an outstanding contribution to leatherworking over the past year. It recognises a contribution that is far beyond the ordinary, based on a proven dedication to a particular leatherworking skill.
After studying Contemporary Applied Arts at Middlesex University in London, Natalie Thakur went on to study leatherwork at the London College of Fashion. She initially started out working in bespoke leather interiors, before starting up her own brand Natthakur and pioneering techniques such as hand-painted leather marquetry, specialist leather moulding, and hand-crafted sculptural relief. She has been stocked in some of the most prestigious shops in the world, including Selfridges, Le Bon Marche in Paris, Takashimaya and The V&A, and was selected for ‘The Best of British’ at Liberty’s London.
Message from the Former Prince of Wales
“As President of the Heritage Crafts Association, I am delighted to endorse this new awards scheme which supports and rewards excellence in the heritage craft sector.
Crafts are such a vital part of our British heritage and I have always been passionately concerned to promote the best aspects of our country’s traditions ― and, equally importantly, to enable these highly specialised skills to be transferred from one generation to the next.
These new awards for heritage craft celebrate excellence across the sector in a variety of ways. They reward those who give so much by volunteering to support the many different crafts, those who pass on their skills, those who wish to improve their craft skills and those who continue to produce great British craft.”
‘Heritage crafts’
