1978
Life was simple. Supportive family, good friends, a local school, and long hot summer days spent playing cricket in our parent’s backyard.
This is a shot of my older sister and I, at home in our parents backyard. As you can see, my Dad was very particular about his straight line lawn-mowing technique. I love this image for its simplicity, and as a reminder of a wonderful time when the backyard was a place for the whole family to relax and enjoy some time together.
Our fantastic Mum was always home when we got back from school, while our laid-back Dad spent his weekdays as a cutter at a Levi’s jeans factory in ‘town’. Weekends were usually spent with family, and Sunday afternoons were set aside to visit our grandparents.
1987
One particular weekend in 1987 was a bit different. Dad had found some off-cuts of denim, and made a cardboard pattern. He then proceeded to do the impossible. To show me how to make my own jeans. That’s right, jeans! The most desired of all teenage possessions. It was like a magic trick. The Backyard Denim seed was sown.
Many years and various "day jobs" followed. A chartered accounting firm, office manager for a motorcycle shop, three amazing years at fashion school, production manager for a Japanese fashion designer... but always this passion for working with denim. Many evenings and weekends were spent making jeans and bags for family and friends. Then came the amazing opportunity to work for a British denim brand in London. Four and a half years of invaluable experience, meeting talented new colleagues and being inspired. In my spare time, still always learning, working with denim, canvas and leather, finding new tools and testing techniques.
2012
Time to devote full attention to Backyard Denim, and to throw open the doors. To invite you in to my denim world, and to share my ideas. To tell you why and how I do it, and to offer you the opportunity to own something genuinely and proudly handmade and handsewn in London.
Close to my heart is the selection of the highest quality fabric, leather, brass fittings, and copper rivets. I then lovingly cut, sew, hand-stitch, punch, and hammer these materials into bags that I think are beautiful, practical, individual, and incredibly durable.
Life was simple. Supportive family, good friends, a local school, and long hot summer days spent playing cricket in our parent’s backyard.
This is a shot of my older sister and I, at home in our parents backyard. As you can see, my Dad was very particular about his straight line lawn-mowing technique. I love this image for its simplicity, and as a reminder of a wonderful time when the backyard was a place for the whole family to relax and enjoy some time together.
Our fantastic Mum was always home when we got back from school, while our laid-back Dad spent his weekdays as a cutter at a Levi’s jeans factory in ‘town’. Weekends were usually spent with family, and Sunday afternoons were set aside to visit our grandparents.
1987
One particular weekend in 1987 was a bit different. Dad had found some off-cuts of denim, and made a cardboard pattern. He then proceeded to do the impossible. To show me how to make my own jeans. That’s right, jeans! The most desired of all teenage possessions. It was like a magic trick. The Backyard Denim seed was sown.
Many years and various "day jobs" followed. A chartered accounting firm, office manager for a motorcycle shop, three amazing years at fashion school, production manager for a Japanese fashion designer... but always this passion for working with denim. Many evenings and weekends were spent making jeans and bags for family and friends. Then came the amazing opportunity to work for a British denim brand in London. Four and a half years of invaluable experience, meeting talented new colleagues and being inspired. In my spare time, still always learning, working with denim, canvas and leather, finding new tools and testing techniques.
2012
Time to devote full attention to Backyard Denim, and to throw open the doors. To invite you in to my denim world, and to share my ideas. To tell you why and how I do it, and to offer you the opportunity to own something genuinely and proudly handmade and handsewn in London.
Close to my heart is the selection of the highest quality fabric, leather, brass fittings, and copper rivets. I then lovingly cut, sew, hand-stitch, punch, and hammer these materials into bags that I think are beautiful, practical, individual, and incredibly durable.
