Leather Goods Designer | Milliner | Color Stylist | Product Designer
About Me
Making things is literally in my blood. My father, Alex Black, was a champion decorative bird and decoy carver and I often snuck into his woodshop to watch him hone his craft. Early in elementary school I started sewing, knitting and embroidery. Even at a young age, I relished my time concepting and visualizing the finished design, finding the tools, supplies and optimal color palettes as this marked the exciting beginning of every project.
After a decades-long career in the technology industry, I went on a mission to re-discover my creative core. I started a picture framing service, embarked in a year-long intensive in jewelry making, and retooled my needlework skills. These pursuits provided helpful background training for my creative practices today.
Today I focus my creative energies in several disciplines: leatherwork, millinery (hat making) and product design. The core of my creative ethos is to design functional, yet beautiful products that customers will use, own and gift. My practice usually involves a great deal of prototyping, problem solving and materials sourcing. My sun filled studio is located in Aiken, South Carolina.
Product Designer
From my work with leather, felt, straw, ribbons and other materials, it is only natural that I enjoy expanding into product design in other categories and other materials. For example, I have worked with silk and upcycled fur design scarves. My metalwork background plays an important role in custom hardware design and manufacturing.
Collaborating with other artisans and factories to bring new products to life remains an exciting process.
Leather Goods Designer
My leather journey started in 2013. I was introduced to the craft by a retired Hermes leather artisan while traveling on a business trip. From there I traveled around the world to find leading practitioners with which to study and learn this time-honored craft.
Today, my favorite part of the process revolves around creating the functional design and manufacturing specifications, working with tanneries to select the leather, constructing the initial patterns, iterating with prototypes, sourcing specialty hardware and developing construction instructions. These steps are the core of bringing a product to life and these processes continue to be my passion.
I sell leathergoods under the brand name Saxley®
Author, Leatherwork School Book
Before YouTube and social media, learning about and making leather goods was almost a secret reserved for few outside of a factory setting. I not only wanted to crack the codes, I wanted to share my knowledge with others who also wanted in on the craft.
In 2018 I launched The Leatherwork School Book. It quickly became the go-to bible for others who wanted to learn how to make their own products. The book has sold thousands of copies in more than 50 countries and continues to be a best seller in the category. To accompany the book, I launched LeatherworkSchoolShop.com to sell specialty tools and supplies to my readers.
Milliner
Living in an equestrian town piqued my interest in hats. Not only can they provide protection from the sun, hats can also give that extra panache to an outfit on race or event days. Studying in millinery England has given me a firm foundation in both hat design and hat making.
Working with straw and felt, each hat is molded on a form to match the wearer’s head size. Fascinators or perchers also use molds as a starting point of the design. Custom blocks (forms or molds) made in England, Australia and sourced from vintage sales act as the starting point for many of my designs. Vintage ribbons, custom made flowers and hand finishing techniques add a special level of personalization to every project.
I get to bring my considerable experience with color and product design to create something unique yet honors time tested millinery techniques.
Color Stylist
From a very early age, color has been a central theme for me. In 2001 I studied Color Design with Sharon Chrisman at Color Designers International. In 2024 I continued this education with Olga Kamova of the Kamova Color Institute. This firm foundation allows me to design hats and leather goods and product groups that are in harmony with each collection and for every individual client.
