Kingsley Walters is a Jamaican-born but London-bred designer maker rapidly making a name for himself in the niche pocket of men's accessories that is handcrafted bags. The 32-year-old works out of a studio in Hackney Downs. He specialises in beautifully crafted leather and canvas bags that we instantly fell in love with when we discovered them, which is why we snapped some up for our Oliver Spencer Studio. Kingsley's meticulous process strikes the perfect chord for our Studio brand criteria, with a painstaking approach to making that channels his passion into his product.
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"When I started in 2015, it was more just to learn the craft of working with leather, understanding how to construct it and deconstruct it," Kingsley says. "I started by making cardholders and belts for my friends. Slowly, it grew into people ordering things from me, so I started to see the potential. I was working in retail to get by, and spending every free minute working on new designs.
Although he was born in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingsley didn't follow his parents to London until he was 11. After school, he tried his hand as a chef, but crafting with his hands was always the draw, and so his curiosity led him to bespoke tailoring. But it was working with leather that really piqued his interest, culminating in selling his wares at Broadway Market in East London.
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"It wasn't until I got a studio just before the pandemic, and things started to pick up in terms of wholesale clients that I really started to take myself seriously as a bag maker. Building that confidence takes time."
For his designs, Kingsley draws inspiration from both Jamaica and East London. He credits the Caribbean island for not only its vibrant natural colours, but also instilling in him an unwavering discipline and a hard-working attitude, something that has helped him stay true to his vision and not compromising his designs for anything.
East London is also a well of interesting, culturally diverse elements that inform his work. "Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of a building detail that might make me rethink the shape of a bag or a handle, other times it might be what someone is wearing. I always add it to my sketchbook, and the idea naturally takes shape from there."
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Kingsley's bags are truly beautiful and talking to him, you really get a sense of the passion and pride that goes into handcrafting each and every one. "My aim is to keep growing my brand, and keep meeting and working with talented creatives. Eventually I would love for it to grow into something akin to a homeware brand, but for now I just want to keep learning from people I respect and admire."
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