Made in Hackney: Mimi Berry on the leather bags she designs in Lower Clapton Road

Each week the Gazette takes to the streets to unearth something being manufactured right here in Hackney. This week we spoke to Mimi Berry about her leather bags.

Mimi Berry designs her leather bags and accessories from a small studio at the back of her showroom in Lower Clapton Road.

She launched the label that bears her name after studying fashion design at Central St Martin’s, where she made hats and bags to complement each of the six outfits she designed for her degree portfolio.

She told the Gazette: “When I took the collection to a shop called The Cross in Holland Park they bought the accessories and bags but not the clothes! So I started making them from home.

“It takes patience and practice to make them.”

The brand has grown so much that the items are now made in factories elsewhere in the UK, and sold internationally.

But Mimi says she is still proud of the fact her goods are designed in Hackney and stitched on British soil.