Candice Lau – leather worker

Winner of the 2017 HCA/QEST Training Bursary

Leather worker Candice Lau was awarded an HCA/QEST Training Bursary. Candice learned pattern making and the traditional leather technique of saddle stitching through a combination of college, a short summer course as well as a small leathercraft workshop in Hong Kong. Since then, her practice has primarily been self taught.

Whist she enjoyed a steady growth of her ‘Kuku Big Bag’ brand of individually hand stitched leather bags all produced at her London studio, she started receiving more and more enquiries for bespoke, handcrafted pieces. Hence, she decided to set up ‘Studio Candice Lau’, a design studio that focuses on bespoke leatherwork, sampling and producing branded pieces for other private clients and commercial companies. Alongside the development of the brand, she also established a monthly leathercraft workshop to teach enthusiasts and novices how to make their own leather products using traditional leather working techniques.

The QEST/HCA bursary will enable Candice to finally attend the course in 2017 which will help her enhance her technical skills as a leatherworker. With the day to day pressure and the financial burden of running a young leathercraft business, it had previously been difficult raise the funds to realise this goal.