Yusuf Osman

Leatherworker

©Gareth Hacker

From law to leather

Yusuf perfected his skills with master artisans
In 2021, his colourful handbag won him the Leatherseller's Award
The American actor John Malkovich was one of his students

While reading Law at the London School of Economics and then training to become a solicitor, Yusuf Osman discovered his creative side and after trying different crafts – from knitting to pottery, woodworking and jewellery making – he fell in love with leatherworking. “As a craft and as a material, you can do so much with it. You can wet mould it, incorporate techniques from other crafts, and incorporate colour through dyes and paints. And most important, the product that is made from high quality leather ages with you”. Yusuf used Instagram to find people around the world that were working at the level that he aspired to and travelled to them. In 2019 he opened his own studio at Cockpit Deptford, London, and started creating his signature handbag and homeware pieces.

Interview

©Gareth Hacker

©Gareth Hacker

How did you fall in love with leathermaking?: After discovering that a life sitting behind a computer wasn’t for me, I tried many crafts and none really grabbed me until I took a leatherworking course in Tetbury. I fell in love with the material and the processes. The different types of leather, the textures, the colours and the smells have captivated me since.
When did you decide it was the craft for you?: On my first weekend course in November 2014. I didn't know it was going to be a career but I loved everything about it. It remained a hobby until I took a longer course in South Africa in 2016 after which I started my business.
Why did leather grab you so much?: As a craft, there are so many elements to it and the material itself is a combination of hard and soft, both naturally evocative. Human beings have a connection to leather as a material, as the tactile nature of it, it is instinctively within us.
Do you have a type of leather that you like most?: I love all types of leather because they all have different purposes. But I only use the best and the highest quality, so for my everyday goods, I use vegetable-tanned leather from Tuscany, Italy, and for my handbags, I use goatskins for grain and texture that come from India and are tanned in France.

Yusuf Osman is a master artisan: he began his career in 2014 and he started teaching in 2017