Hello! My name is Emily Mahy and I founded my independent leather bag brand MAHY in 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand.
In my 20’s I was studio managing for boutique design agencies in Melbourne, Australia. This experience was extremely valuable, but I wanted to be doing the creating rather than managing the creative process. I have always dabbled in different art mediums, like photography, painting and screen printing and was really interested in working with leather.
Working with leather ticked so many boxes for me to turn it into a business. It requires a certain level of skill to work with, it is an organic material with longevity and its form has an appealing softness and flow. There are so many ways to shape leather into various objects or artwork through techniques like cutting, shaping, stitching, and finishing. It is a craft that combines practical skills with artistic expression, allowing for both functional and decorative creations.
