Our Story

SOHO, 2020 · BIRMINGHAM, TODAY

It began in Soho, London, in 2020 — not with a business plan, but with a leather workbench, a pile of offcuts, and one simple question: could a collar be made properly — cut, stitched and finished the way a good boot or belt is, rather than mass-produced.

Before there was a name, there was a maker teaching herself pattern-cutting on genuine leather — taking a piece apart when it wasn't right, and starting again. What began as a personal fascination with hardware, hides and stitching slowly became something people started asking for by name: first friends, then friends of friends, then strangers who'd heard there was someone in London who could make a collar that actually held its shape.

What we make sits at the meeting point of two things: the character of leather itself, and precision — exactly where a rivet should sit, how much weight a chain should carry, how a buckle should close so it's secure without ever feeling stiff. Whether in python-embossed leather, crocodile-embossed leather, vegan leather or full-grain cowhide, every piece we cut is built the way a serious accessory should be: substantial, deliberate, and made to be worn for real — not just photographed.

From private commissions to an open door

2020 · Soho, London One leather workbench, one pair of hands, and a small circle of people who wanted pieces that didn't exist yet.

2020–2023 · By commission only No shop, no stock, no catalogue. Everything was made for one person at a time — found by word of mouth, measured individually, discussed directly with the maker. This is where the fit, the weight and the hardware we still use today were worked out, piece by piece.

2023 · Birmingham The studio moves out of London and into a proper workshop in Birmingham — more space, more leather, more benches. The pace stays exactly as unhurried as it was; there's simply more room to work in.

2026 · The door opens We incorporated as DADDY SAID SO LTD in England and Wales, and opened the studio to everyone. This website is the first time our work has been available to buy publicly. Custom commissions remain very much part of what we do — they're simply no longer the only way in.

We're a small, proudly British studio. Every piece is handcrafted in England, in small batches, by hand — from the first cut of leather to the final rivet. No factories, no mass production. Just a workshop, a lot of leather, and a genuine love for what this material can do in the hands of someone who's spent years learning its limits.

Thank you for being here, and for trusting us with a part of your story.

— The DADDY SAID SO Studio