PETALING JAYA, Dec 7 — Artisanal leather craftsmen are quite rare in Malaysia, with only a few still around practising this time-consuming art.

It’s hard to imagine there was a time when you could find plenty of places that produced leather goods locally. Due to cheaper cost and quantity of production, China became the new place to source for leather goods and many leather craftsmen in Malaysia had to close down their business.

Fortunately, there is a new generation of artisanal leather craftsmen in Malaysia. One outfit is Attached Leather Co., a husband and wife team who used to be architects.

Attached Leather Co. has a collection of handcrafted wallets, card cases, key holders, folios, shoulder bags, journals and other customisable items. Faiz Rosli, 30, and Ayu Lamien, 27, got into leather crafting by chance when they were visiting Penang during the Penang Jazz Festival.

“We walked into an antique shop that was selling leather goods. We asked the old woman manning the shop if she would teach us how to make leather goods,” said Faiz.

The old woman not only taught them the basics of leather craftsmanship but also showed them what type of leather was best suited for certain types of goods. Faiz and Ayu were so enthusiastic that they went back and spent a grand just on leather goods!

Tools imported from the UK used specifically for leather crafting (left). Faiz has mastered the art of stitching that it looks machine sewn! (right)

Faiz showed his teacher the first product he made but she didn’t think it was good enough! But the couple has come a long way from when they first started and Faiz’s stitching has improved tremendously.  Before this, his stitching was not straight but now, it looks like it is stitched by machine! Faiz does most of the heavy duty work like stitching while Ayu cuts the leather, prepares the tools and put things together.

It’s not easy to work with leather because the material is so thick. You would think that it’s a man’s job but the truth is, in other countries women are the ones who do leather craft!

Attached Leather Co. uses different types of leathers for their products. There is buffalo leather which is stiffer and harder, then there is the lambskin and calfskin which is lighter and thinner.

Besides their original and current collection, customers can request for customised orders; let’s say they want a particular colour, an additional pocket or a button.

“Some of the designs we have currently are actually requests from customers,” said Ayu. Surprisingly, the colour pink is very popular among the customers of Attached Leather Co.

“Our customers usually buy our leather goods as gifts for their loved ones. We also provide hot stamping so they can put their names on the leather goods. This is very popular among our customers,” said Ayu.

Their best-sellers include the leather journal and key holders. Attached Leather Co. also makes key holders for smart keys where there is no metal ring attached. Prices for the leather goods are reasonable, with key holders starting from RM45 to shoulder bags at RM500.

The husband and wife team are actually architects by trade

For the level of craftsmanship and quality, Attached Leather Co. is affordable, and make ideal gifts for loved ones as well as for yourself.

“We chose the name Attached because we want our customers to feel attached to our products. Also, the name Attached is great for collaborations. For example, we had a collaboration with local brand Obliq and we called it

Attached to Obliq,” said Ayu. On why they chose Instagram as the platform for selling Attached Leather Co. products, Ayu said that it is easier to use on the phone and the interface is simpler than Facebook’s. Also, there are a lot of shoppers on Instagram compared to Facebook, she said.

Attached Leather Co. delivers within Malaysia at a flat rate of RM10. They used to do COD (cash on delivery) for certain areas but Faiz and Ayu realised that it took a lot of time and it was not cost-efficient.

More card cases and wallets by Attached Leather Co (left). One of their best-sellers include key holders with names hot stamped on the leather (right)

There was one time when someone who lived in France wanted to buy a product from Attached Leather Co. but the postage was more expensive than the item itself.

In the future, Faiz and Ayu plan to have a website with a proper payment service like PayPal. There are also plans to open a retail space where people can view and touch the the products before they purchase them.

Other than Attached Leather Co., the couple also does interior design and renovations under FRALdesign (an acronym of their names). Faiz recently quit his job to focus on FRALdesign and Attached Leather Co. while Ayu is juggling a full-time job in property on top of FRALdesign and Attached Leather Co. Faiz is a fan of denim and leather products.

“Initially, I wanted to start my own denim line but it is actually more difficult. That’s why I ended up doing leather goods instead,” said Faiz. He polished his skills in leather crafting by buying books and researching online. One of his first leather products was a long leather wallet that fit into the back pocket of his favourite jeans.

Journals and card cases in different colours and leathers

“At first, we used shoe making tools to make our leather goods but then they were not sufficient enough for us so we bought proper tools from the UK,” said Faiz. Leather craft tools are very specific and you can’t use one tool for everything. There are various types of rivets, buttons and parts in different sizes and shapes. “There’s no one size fits all,” said Faiz.

Once they get a retail shop, Faiz hopes to invest in a proper sewing machine for the leather goods. Leather goods require a special type of sewing machine because the material is stiff and thick.

In the future, Faiz and Ayu are also hoping to learn more about leather making in Florence, Italy where some of the world’s best leather craftsmen pick up their skills.

Check out their collection on their Instagram account @xattachedx.