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40 under 40: Meet Lauren Broxton

Monday, 14 November 2022


Lauren Broxton 

Every Monday, we will be celebrating one of our 40 under 40 makers.

Second up is Lauren Broxton.

Lauren is the designer behind her fashion company, Lauren Broxton. Based in Walsall, Lauren uses waste leather from local industries and upcycles it into beautiful fashion accessories and garments.

Get to know her passions below and what drives her everyday.

Tell us a bit about what you do? 

I like to think I have a unique approach to leather work; my work sits at the intersection of a lot of different disciplines. Fashion designer, leather artisan, leatherworker, artist: I suppose I am all of those, and they all interlink into one another. Primarily, I make bespoke, conceptual, contemporary leather pieces, inspired by the industrial landscape of my hometown Walsall. My main collections and signature pieces are created solely from waste saddlery leather, re-purposed using a process that I developed myself by combining traditional and more modern techniques. I am not confined by this however, and take an open approach to designing, working individually with each client to create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.



Photo Credits:
Photo 1: ( leather twoset, kick)
Photographer: Sandra Laksa (@dragonflycaptures)
Model: Hudson Monfries (@hudson_monfries)

Photo 3: (Orange hair, bodice, eyelet trouser)
Photographer: Joe Marchant (@joemarch_photography)


How did you get into making leather goods? / What, or maybe who inspired you to start making?

Coming from a fashion background, I always had an affinity with leather – maybe due to my Black Country roots. It was always a part of my life – I can remember spending school holidays at the leather museum participating in some of the creative classes there. Throughout my fashion education, I was always incorporating it into collections, culminating in the creation of my Graduate Collection ‘Locals’, a 14 piece collection made entirely from upcycled saddlery waste. Fast-forward 3 years and it’s become the basis of my business model!  It was inspired by the need to reconnect with my origins and hometown, having spent many years trying to escape it in exchange for the big cities. I almost felt a sense of shame about where I was from, as if it wasn’t somewhere I could flourish as a designer, when in fact it has become so integral to my identity. I now feel a sense of obligation to put Walsall on the map as the future of contemporary leather design and show others that just because we are a small town, we shouldn’t be discouraged from pursuing big ideas.

What is your favourite product to make/favourite commission piece?

I get some really crazy commission requests come my way (e.g. I was commissioned to make a 7x7ft upcycled denim and leather hammock earlier this year) and although I’m always a little intimidated when I take them on, I get so much satisfaction from creating them. My favourite piece this year was for quite a high profile client whom I love working for because they just let me go wild with my designs and trust my vision. It was a 3 piece outfit made out of this gorgeous shade of mint green leather that I had to weave into a beautiful lattice style surface. The challenging part of what I do is taking the principles of fashion design and figuring out how I am going to create that in leather. There’s a lot of cross-discipline practice involved that I feel balances the technical and artistic sides of my brain.

What do you love most about working with leather?

I love it’s sheer versatility. There’s so much you can do with it – mould it, sculpt it, weave it – there are so many possibilities. Above all, it’s the sculptural properties that I love the most. My designs are big, bold, expressive, and tough and it takes a very special material like leather to achieve that aesthetic. On top of that, it lasts a lifetime and just gets better with age, so I see it as quite a sustainable option.

What are your next goals/ Have you got any exciting new projects lined up?

Having started up in January of this year, I am honestly so proud of what I’ve achieved in my first year in business and I’m aiming to just take it even further in the next year and thereafter. I’ve managed to gain a lot of exposure through some really exciting clients, which has opened a lot of doors to me. I’ve got big plans for where I want to take my brand. I want to be a name that is synonymous with Walsall leather, whilst really giving it a kick into the 21st Century through my designs and through my company culture. Walsall’s leather heritage is something that forms the fabric of our town and there is no reason why we cannot be serious competitors in the fashion industry in terms of leather. I want to establish a really creative and forward thinking brand and take it to the world stage, whilst providing opportunities within the town to those who would otherwise be dissuaded from pursuing a creative career. Having grown up here, it’s not something that is encouraged and I think it stops a lot of very talented people from reaching their full potential. At the moment, I’m working a lot with the colleges and universities to nurture talent and allow them to gain experience through contemporary leather, with the hope that eventually I can bring new job opportunities to the town.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming a leather worker or who has just started out?

In so far as my leatherwork goes - learn the rules and then break them! As with anything, that is the only way anything new and truly original is created. When I started out, there was nobody really in fashion education who specialised and could guide me in leather so I had to go out there and learn for myself, which was the best thing I could do. I contacted so many people in the saddle industry who were more than happy to show me all these little tips and techniques I could use, I conducted my own research, I experimented. I think all of that has allowed me to bring my own unique spin to things and I’m still learning all the time. Just surround yourself with people who know more than you do and see what you can learn from them – and then do your own special thing.

What does it mean to you to be included on the 40 under 40 list?

It feels so nice to feel seen and appreciated by such a big market leader such as Abbey! I’m aware of how much leather is steeped in heritage and tradition, and I know that I’m really trying to push the boundaries with my own work. I delve into the unusual, conceptual and avant-garde with my creations so it’s a huge honour for the craftsmanship that goes into them to be recognised.

How important do you think it is to keep traditional techniques alive in the modern world?

It is of upmost importance, not only in terms of maintaining high quality value but also in relation to sustainability. In terms of what I do, the fashion world has a bad reputation for being one of the biggest contributors to climate change and environmental damage. A return to goods that can be made solely or mainly by hand and withstand the test of time has a huge impact socially. That said, I think it is equally important to move with the times and combine tradition and modernity – I’m experimenting with Bio-textiles at the moment as I think that will become a really exciting and important part of the industry – not as a replacement for leather but rather something that can sit alongside it.

What have you done to keep relevant in a digital age?

Since the start of my career, I have always been really active on social media as it is an amazing platform to connect with new audiences and customers. I grew up in the age of the internet so to me, the importance of digital has always been ingrained. Our brand is on all major socials – we use Instagram primarily to release products, editorials and insights and we sell exclusively through the website. It’s also a great place to meet other creatives to collaborate with and further our reach. We’ve also just made the move into TikTok in order to have a bit of fun with it too – reach younger audiences and basically show a bit of behind the scenes of the brand. I think people really like to engage with the process of how a product is made these days so it’s important to show the craftsmanship that goes into a design.

What is the biggest challenge to becoming successful in your discipline?

I think I’m expecting a bit of push back from the more old school, traditional ways of leatherworking – but I’m not necessarily worried about that and it’s never stopped me from doing what I want to do. My brand relies on creative interpretation and incorporation of the past, in the same way a lot of the designers I admire have done. I think the real challenge might potentially come from the ethical side of using leather and the move towards plant based bio materials but that’s something I’m going to be experimenting with too. I can’t see leather going out of fashion anytime soon though – it’s a timeless, beautiful, and sustainable material and I’m here for the long game!


For more information, please visit www.laurenbroxton.com

To join this network of great makers, please follow Lauren's Instagram page HERE