Maisie wins Emerging Leatherworker of the Year Award 2025

Wrexham leatherworker Maisie Hill has won the second annual Emerging Leatherworker of the Year Award, supported by the Leathersellers’ Foundation, including a £1,000 prize awarded at a special presentation at Wentworth Woodhouse on Monday 17 November 2025.

The award celebrates an emerging leatherworker who has made an outstanding start to their craft career. The winner is highly skilled amongst their peers, whilst raising the perceived value of their craft through sharing and awareness raising. They have given themselves a fantastic chance of achieving long-term success, perhaps overcoming disadvantage or setbacks along the way.

Maisie Hill is a junior craftsperson at Silverlining Furniture who rapidly transitioned into leatherworking with no prior experience, achieving promotion in just nine months. Having recently created her own art furniture piece, Maisie blends a proactive approach with an innate talent for precision, quality, and technical skill, which rivals more seasoned artisans.

The runners-up were Ella Boucht, whose innovative work challenges norms around gender and identity, using bespoke leather to empower marginalised communities, and Ana Del Rio Mullarkey, a fashion designer specialising in leathercraft and the founder of her own brand ANA DEL RIO.

The Leathersellers’ Foundation is a grant funder that enables individuals and communities by working with charities, fosters opportunity through education, and supports the UK leather trade. Its partnership with Heritage Crafts also sees four new training bursaries for early-career leatherworkers to be launched in January.

Photo: Maisie Hill, winner of the 2025 Emerging Leatherworker of the Year Award, and Laura Southall, Heritage Crafts Trustee. Photo by Robert Wade.