Featured Designer: Hide + Seeker

Hide-Seeker

Image credit: Photo by Rachel Cook

The story of Hide + Seeker is somewhat of a romantic one.  Geordie and Eartha have combined their passions, leather making and vintage treasure collecting, to create a sweet little label inspired by love, travel and music.  Read on to discover more and find Hide + Seeker with our debut stalls at the Melbourne AW15 market this weekend.

Tell us a bit about Hide + Seeker and what we can expect to discover?
Hide and Seeker is the label/shop started by my lady Eartha and me.  Our shop is in Newcastle and it’s a mix of the bespoke leather goods that I make, and Eartha’s awesome vintage collection that she finds on our journeys overseas.  I have my workshop in the shop and you’ll usually find me there making stuff but often Eartha will be in there too with our crazy kids Howlin’ and Emmylou with other family, friends and strangers dropping by.

We want our shop and label to be accessible to anyone.  We want it to feel like when you go to a friend’s place and you hang out in their kitchen, being part of their world.  We’re bringing the ‘Hide’ element of our shop to Melbourne and it’s exciting to be able to debut it at Finders Keepers.

What are your creative backgrounds and how did it lead you to where you are today?
I was in a band called Kira Puru & The Bruise and we spent a lot of time on tour and recording.  Recording can be long and tedious and can lead to a lot of idle time which I’m not into.  A friend told me a story about Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age filling in time in the studio by making wallets out of gaffer tape as there was a lot of it around.  I don’t even know if it’s true but I decided to give it a crack and enjoyed it.

That got me thinking as I’d been searching for the perfect wallet for ages and couldn’t find it so I thought I’d try making one with leather.  I have a friend who works with leather and he gave me some tips and I made a wallet that I loved.  It was a around that time that I had started seeing Eartha and wanted to impress her by making her her dream bag so I thought, why not have a crack at making a bag?  And it all kind of flowed from there.


Hide + Seeker
Image credit: Photo by Rachel Cook

Hide + SeekerImage credit: Photo by Rachel Cook

Hide + SeekerImage credit: Photo by Rachel Cook

What do you love about working with leather?  What keeps you creatively motivated?
I actually love the leather.  Each time I get a new hide it feels exciting to me.  I get really quality leather, all naturally tanned, so every piece varies hugely.  Often I order a hide with an idea in mind of what I’m going to make with it but as soon as it arrives and I see it and feel it I often end up making something completely different.  It sounds a little weird but there’s kind of a language in the leather which tells you what it should be.

It’s people that keep me motivated.  Wanting to make beautiful things for my family, seeing the beautiful things my friends make, seeing what other people are doing out there in the world.  Also I’m constantly challenging myself creatively, trying to make something better than the last thing I made so it always stays fresh for me.

What is your creative workspace like, and what inspires you about your surroundings?
It’s public.  My workshop is in the shop itself so it’s possible that anyone who wanders in can end up sitting down and having a chat to me whilst I’m making stuff which ends up in a lot of interesting conversations.  One day a lady came in telling me how she used to do leather work back in the day.  I ended up going to her house for a cup of tea and to see her stuff and it was awesome.

People have a lot of interesting stuff to share and if you’re open to it it can often be really inspiring.  I like the social aspect of it.  I don’t work well stuck away somewhere on my own.

Hide + Seeker

Hide + Seeker workspace-2

Hide + Seeker

What challenges have you faced starting your own label, and what are some things you love about it?
As a designer and maker I love that I am in full control of what I create.  After buying the leather every part of the process is done by me.  That means I have absolute freedom in what I am creating.  And that feels really good.  Also it means that what I am making can constantly change which keeps it interesting.  I started off mostly doing basics like wallets and belts, but lately I have really been getting into designing ‘man bags’.  I basically just try to create things that are practical yet beautiful.  Things I’d be proud to wear myself.

My major challenge is making enough stock.  Because I do it all myself I can’t just get someone to make more stock when I need it.  I’m working with a couple of people to get them to the point where they can help me but it takes a lot of time to teach someone.  I often just fall back on doing it myself as its faster but that’s just a quick fix.  I’ll definitely be focusing on training someone up in the near future.

What can we expect to see from Hide + Seeker at the upcoming Melbourne Markets?
I’ll be bringing a concise range of the leather goods I make to the markets.  Bags, belts, wallets and accessories.  A lot of the stuff I do is bespoke work so I’m always up for a chat with people about ideas they have.  You can also expect to see my Dad.  He’s coming along to give me a hand and he’s a great bloke so feel free to stop by and say hello to my Dad.

www.geordiemalone.com
www.instagram.com/hide_and_seeker

Store location
Hide + Seeker
6 Beaumont st
Islington NSW
Newcastle

Hide + Seeker

Hide + Seeker

2 Comments

  • David Rushton says:

    Hi Geordie,
    Your work looks good. I’d like to see what manbags (terrible name!) you might have
    When are you present / absent at Beaumont street please? I’m at Wangi and
    don’t go to town much. I’ll make a trip if I know you will be there.
    Cheers
    David Rushton

  • Finders Keepers says:

    Hi David! Best to contact Geordie directly via the link in the blog post! Cheers!

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