Fun & Funky
We pride ourselves on the selection of goods we offer from brands known for their style and quality. We have a lot of fun sourcing our stock from a wide range of Australian companies. From fun women's footwear, through genuine leather backpacks and gorgeous bags, to beautiful scarves sourced from Australia and all over the world, our customers don't come to Lake Leather for boring!
We also know that everyone loves a story. We love stories. The stories of the companies and the leather goods that we source for you. Whether it is locally grown talent making items on the kitchen table right here in Tasmania, or an old family business whose history spans decades and continents. We love to hear the stories, of the people we deal with, of the ideas and innovations, of the inspiration behind another great design, of the journey of the materials used. We are always on the look-out for another great piece with a story behind it. And we love to tell those stories to you. About how our favourite purse company, Dusky Robin, based right here in Tasmania, was named after a native bird that flew in through their window and sung for them. About how afternoons learning leathercraft with his grandpa, Albert gave one designer’s company its name - Afternoons With Albert. About how our own bags, made onsite in Evadale, Tasmania, are named after our staff, past and present. About how one of our biggest shoe suppliers Django & Juliette was started in Melbourne and was named after the designer’s twin niece and nephew, born around the same time. About the world-famous glove company, Dents, founded more than two centuries ago in England, whose style, quality and value are undeniable. We love finding out the stories, and we love passing those stories on. We also have a lot of fun sourcing the great range of items that we stock. The travel, the talk, the friendships we build. Finding the products where quality materials and manufacture meet fun and funky design, where innovative ideas meet the traditions of leathercraft. We pride ourselves on our relationships with our customers and suppliers.
For most of the long history of leathercraft, leather goods have been available in natural colours; colours given by the naturally occurring compounds in the substances used to tan the hides, or from additional substances added to the tanning solutions. There has developed over time a huge range of some surprisingly bold colours from these natural origins. Not only blacks (using henna and sugar) and shades of brown (natural tannins from barks and leaves), but also reds (bell peppers and poppy flowers), pink (rose petals), orange (henna), blue (indigo), green (mint) and yellow (saffron and pomegranate). Additional traditional techniques for decorating leather include gilding, carving, dying and painting. These are all still available today, but with modern techniques in tanning and dying leather goods nowadays come in all myriad colours and textures. We look carefully to ensure that we are buying only the best quality in our leather goods so that you can shop with confidence.