MACKENZIE Leather Goods, a company started on the Isle of Arran more than 40 years ago, produces authentic hand-crafted, high-quality leather products that tell a story.
Founder Alan MacKenzie opened a workshop in 1976, primarily making bespoke riding saddles and a range of traditional briefcases and travel bags.
Due to the high demand, the bag and case-making side of the business took precedence and by the early 1990s the saddlery side was discontinued.
In 1991, the firm opened a leather goods shop in Edinburgh's Victoria Street, specialising in high-end leather bags and cases.
This became the main retail sales outlet for the bags made in the Arran workshop.
In 2011, Mackenzies in Edinburgh was bought over by leather craftsman Simon Harvey Potts.
He started out as an apprentice at the Victoria Street shop in 2004 and went on to become workshop leader and manager.
Potts’s passion for leather work originated in 2000. when he was introduced to local designers while visiting southern Spain.
He said: “I met some local artisans who showed me the basics and pointed me in the direction of the leather shop. The rest, shall we say, was history.”
The label now features new styles in the finest Italian and Spanish soft-hide, vegetable-tanned leathers.
To ensure the highest quality, Potts personally sources leather from traditional tanneries, some of which date back five generations.
He and his team aim to provide customers with the very best leather goods, which last a lifetime and reflect a personal story.
Potts said: “I’m absolutely passionate about my work and about hand-producing bespoke leather goods and bags that are one of a kind and full of character.
“The bags we create become family heirlooms, all telling a different story”.
Embarking on an exciting new adventure, Mackenzie Leather Goods will open a new store this year on St Mary’s Street in Edinburgh, just off of the Royal Mile.
All products will be made on the premises and the workshop will be on full view so that customers can watch them being created.
Nicola Sturgeon expressed an interest in visiting the new store after a meeting with Potts.
He gave the First Minister a special Mackenzie red cartridge bag, which she later donated to a charity event.
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