The unmistakable smell of leather hits as soon as I walk downstairs to handbag, womenswear and accessories designer Kate Sheridan’s basement workshop, housed beneath her flagship store in Clapton. Bunches of bag straps hang in one corner; rolls of cobalt blue, saffron yellow and mandarin leathers are piled high in another. There are overflowing boxes of scraps that will be used for sampling, plastic tubs filled with brass poppers and silver rivets. “I’ve always loved the versatility and durability of leather,” explains Kate, whose eponymous label began with handbags nearly 25 years ago. “The brand has been a labour of love and evolved organically. Really, I design what I want to wear; my style is minimal, pared-back and utilitarian, not very feminine.”
Made-to-order handbag collections typically combine new designs and a fresh iteration of bestsellers – for the latest TOAST collection, the latter include the cross-body, double pocket Scout in a new shade of fern and the satchel-style Hull in pecan, both made from Italian, vegetable tanned leather. “This type of tanning is much better for the planet and people than chrome tanned leather and that’s important to me; leather itself is a by-product of the food industry, durable and biodegradable,” says Kate, who also uses sustainably produced waxed cotton sourced from Halley Stevenson, a company based in Dundee since 1864. “I started working with waxed cotton about 14 years ago when I was looking for a raincoat for my daughter. I couldn’t find anything I liked so went down a materials rabbit hole. I designed a coat in waxed cotton, then a bag to go with it.”
Non-stitched handbags are made in-house using traditional manufacturing methods, with Kate and her team often renting machinery such as a clicker (a hydraulic press like “a giant cookie cutter but metal and with weights”) to cut leather at a factory in nearby Dalston. “I love being in factories: it’s where all the magic happens,” she says, revealing that her dad used to have his own clothes factory in Sudbury. “I worked in quality control in my school holidays, snipping threads and labelling. For me, there’s such an excitement about seeing a piece through from start to finish.” One of her favourite aspects is finishing the leather edges prior to putting the pieces together, hand-painting and colour matching them to the surface of the bag. “It’s quite a simple but important process; I find it very therapeutic.” 
Kate also works with factories in Kent and Suffolk, and believes that the leather manufacturing industry in general has changed since covid. “During the pandemic, many people re-evaluated their lives and I do think there’s a new breed of craftsman because of that. Now there are more small factories, like the ones I use, and slow fashion brands who don't make a high volume of pieces are just doing it themselves,” she says. “Consumerism has also changed: we all want to know where things are from and that what we’re buying is going to last.” 
Growing up surrounded by the world of fashion (her mum also ran a clothes shop), becoming a designer was a natural career choice for Kate. She loved shoes from a young age (“I remember trying on my mum’s platforms from the 1970s”) so studied footwear and accessories at Cordwainers, now part of University of the Arts London. “I was so obsessed that I wanted to be a footwear designer,” she recalls. A placement at Patrick Cox’s head office led to a post-graduate job in the PR department, followed by a stint working for the late shoe designer Johnny Moke (she made jewellery out of bits of leather and Moroccan glass bead curtains found in the basement, which featured in Vogue) and then several years making printed accessories with her textile designer flatmate Helen Minns as Sheridan & Minns. “We screen printed the leather in my bedroom; everything was very handmade,” she says of the label, which showed at London Fashion Week. “We were so green and we did well but it was of its time.”
In contrast, Kate’s designs now are timeless – as evidenced both by the handbag she has with her when we meet (a zip top tote she designed around 20 years ago) and the fact that her two teenage daughters often raid her wardrobe. “I love the sentiment that my designs can be worn or carried by all generations who style things differently. The shapes are classic but relevant and the leather ages so beautifully; all the bags sing in their own way.”
Kate wears the TOAST Kite Colour Block Sweater.
Words by Emma Love.
Photography by Madeleine Waller.
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