About Us

Black Antler Designs

Black Antler Designs was born out of a feeling of needing to create, coupled with frustration with the modern throw away culture. Our aim is to make quality products made with British materials, and in doing so to hopefully help keep the traditional British leather industry alive. We make beautiful items using traditional skills, as tradesmen did in days gone by, combined with modern design twists. We would like our products to become family heirlooms, passed down through the generations. We are always happy to do any repairs to our products that may become needed over time.

Trying to find ways to recycle cartridges was also one of the reasons Black Antler Designs came about. Due to their explosive nature cartridges are tricky to recycle and require reinforced machinery in case of a 'live one'. In using these cartridges in our designs we give them a new lease of life. 

 

Meet the maker

Hello, my name is Olly Hopkinson and I am both a photographer (click here), and the man behind Black Antler Designs. My interest in hand made leather items first started when growing up on a farm with a small pheasant shoot. From a young age I enjoyed going beating on the shoot. I can remember being fascinated with shotguns and anything to do with them. Fast forward a few years and I was still taking part in the farm shoot, now as a gun as well as still beating.  For my 21st my parents gave me a hand made gunslip made by a friend of my dad's who is a master saddler. I spent many hours looking at it in awe of the beauty of the leather and craftsmanship. 

Then one day ten years later I thought 'I wonder if I could do that?' I sent myself on a very steep learning curve. Fortunately I had some help from an amazingly generous saddler, bridle maker, restorer and all around leather wizard called Lynn, who I spent a lot time with. She taught me all I needed to know to get started.

I started making small items but it wasn't long before I was itching to try and make something larger...

Talking to keepers and other people on shoot days I quickly discovered that almost everyone needed either a new leather item or an old one fixing. I really enjoyed mending older items because they always had a story; "this was my great grandfather's..." etc.

I particularly remember a belt I repaired for a friend that he had pinched from his dad, who had apparently pinched it from his grandfather, and his grandfather from his great grandfather. This got me thinking that I would like to make belts that children want to pinch from their parents, and quality items that parents want to pass down to their children.