Highland & Herringbone
The inspiring journey of a young entrepreneur and her first business.
FOUNDER STORIES
In the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, there’s a small team busy crafting the most beautiful leather bags by hand. Mackenzie Leather Edinburgh continues a long-held tradition of leatherworking. Led by Simon Harvey Potts and Elena Álvarez, the workshop brings together a small team of makers who approach their craft with care and intention. Here’s their story.
Some brands begin with an idea. Ours began with a craft; one carried forward by generations of Edinburgh artisans who knew that true quality is never rushed. Mackenzie Leather Edinburgh grew from this tradition, shaped within the historic Old Town and preserved by craftspeople dedicated to their materials and methods.
The Mackenzie name first emerged under an Edinburgh master craftsman whose devotion to hand-stitched, saddle-grade leatherwork set the foundation for everything that followed. When Simon joined the workshop years later, he stepped into a lineage rather than a simple trade, learning the craft slowly and respectfully, guided by the heritage behind each piece.
When the brand transitioned to new hands, it felt less like business and more like a passing of a torch. We chose to carry Mackenzie Leather into its next chapter with a shared promise: to protect the traditions that make the brand special while nurturing the people and craft that keep it alive. Every product leaving the workshop reflects that promise, a continuation of methods shaped over centuries.
Inside our Edinburgh workshop, craft is a collective pursuit. Led by Owner and Director Simon Harvey Potts, our small team of highly skilled leatherworkers brings personality, respect, and artistry to the bench each day. With their collective of techniques and styles, all with one purpose: to create leather goods that honour the spirit of traditional Scottish craftsmanship.
Guiding the creative heart of the business is Co-owner and Creative Director Elena Álvarez, whose eye for style and instinct for storytelling have helped shape Mackenzie Leather’s modern identity. Offering guidance, perspective, and a vision for how a heritage craft could thrive in a contemporary world.
Elena has woven that vision into every corner of the brand, from design direction to marketing, from nurturing B2B partnerships to cultivating the warm, personal relationship we hold with our customers.
We are a close team, connected through communication and mutual respect. Step into the workshop and you will hear the familiar chorus of craft: quiet laughter, the thud of a mallet, the soft pull of waxed thread. We take the work seriously but enjoy the journey together.
Our workshop sits on St. Mary’s Street, a historic link between Old Town landmarks. Outside, the city hums with tourists, students, and locals moving through their day. From our window, we see Edinburgh shift with weather, light, and season. Inside, the atmosphere slows. Visitors are welcomed by the scent of leather and natural light across wooden benches.
It is a calm, focused space; one where time moves differently and each piece begins its life with intention before becoming part of someone else’s story.
What makes a Mackenzie piece unique is not only how it looks, but how it is made: slowly and intentionally, using traditional saddlery techniques. Each item is cut from our Vegetable-Tanned Italian Saddle Hide, Spanish Hide, or British Oak leather, then hand-stitched, burnished, and finished with methods that prioritise longevity.
Our designs are rooted in heritage: practical, resilient, and timeless. They stand apart from fast fashion; instead, they grow more beautiful with age, shaped by the hands of the maker and the life of the owner.
Some of our most meaningful memories lie far from Edinburgh. Before the workshop on St. Mary’s Street, a young Simon stood at a modest market stall in the south of Spain, selling pieces he had made by hand. Beyond him rose the foothills of Granada, sunlight spilling across stone streets as local life moved around him.
In 2002, this was the first time he saw a customer connect with something he had created. Life circled back in a way that felt almost poetic. In 2012, Simon returned to that very place, this time with Elena by his side, partner in work and in life. They stood together looking out over to the same local market where it all began, from the trails of the Granada. What started as a lone craftsman at a market stall had grown into a shared vision, a shared journey, a shared future.
At the heart of Mackenzie Leather Edinburgh is a commitment to preserving the craft. Our vision is grounded in slow, careful methods that remind us why handmade work still matters. We believe in creating heirloom pieces meant to be lived with and carried forward. We also believe in building a sustainable future for our team and for the craft itself.
Training new makers, sharing knowledge, and involving customers in the story behind their products. As we look ahead, we aim for steady, meaningful growth. We want to strengthen our place within Scotland’s leather industry, expand our product range, welcome new team members, and continue raising awareness for traditional leatherwork without compromising our standards.
Our future is shaped by intention: to evolve without losing our roots, grow without losing our soul, and continue creating pieces that carry our history into the years ahead.
Thank you to Simon and Elena. Stories like this are the reason I started The Artisan Founder. It was a genuine joy to read and to feel, even for a moment, invited into the rhythm of their busy workshop. It’s reassuring to see craftsmanship not only preserved here, but lived and passed on. Still present, still evolving, still worth valuing.
I would like to think that, through reading and passing on stories like this, we help ensure that future generations won’t look back and wonder where it all went, but instead will see it continuing, just as it should be.
Visit the Mackenzie Leather shop at 17 St. Mary’s Street in Edinburgh, or shop online where you’ll discover belts, bags, wallets and more.
Lyndsey | Editor
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