Welcome to Suede&Co, run by me, Dee Maxwell, an independent designer based in East London. All my products are bright, colourful and handcrafted in the heart of London using 100% genuine leather and suede sourced in the UK. Selected accessories can be personalised and made to order too. I love helping your vision come to life.
I like working with different colours and metallics and creating affordable luxury products. I also like to flip perceptions of what leather accessories can look like. They can be bright and playful, not just black or brown.
My label started from a desire to create something beautiful out of waste materials from the vintage fashion industry. But while the supply of reclaimed materials was running out, the demand for my leather bags wasn’t.
It was time for a change. I did lots of trend research, bought new materials and relaunched Suede&Co in August 2016 as a cohesive new collection. Sales started to take off, and after that came a set of handcrafted bags for bridesmaids in March 2017. The bridal sets sold so well I was able to quit my day job a few months later and expand my collection, expect to see plenty more bridal accessories in future.
I dreamt of having my own brand for a long time. I was born into a very crafty family. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada in a household that loved to create. My mum paints, crochets, sews and makes jewellery and my sister is an expert at crochet and knitting. Surrounded by craft materials, I started sewing and making when I was 10.
I went on to get a degree in fashion and spent a year in Paris. I moved to London in 2014 and took an E-commerce job to pay the bills. It wasn’t exciting, but it did teach me a lot about selling online.
Now I’m lovingly making and selling items from shimmery coin purses inspired by mermaids, to pastel clutch bags fit for a wedding and metallic makeup cases.
Nearly all Suede&Co bags are available to monogrammed with your initials for an extra personal touch.
Each monogram is carefully cut out as a stencil, then either stamped on with a sponge (suede) or hand painted (leather). I make them with a specialised leather paint which will not crack, flake or rub off.

We hope you enjoy your Suede&Co bag, as much as we enjoy making them :)

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