Deni-Deni

Words by Emma Crichton-Miller
Photography by Alun Callender

The dramatic landscape of Rossendale in East Lancashire, just north of Manchester, was once a significant centre not just for the cotton industry but also for shoe manufacture. Today, there is little left of either. But for the last twenty years, in a repurposed brick warehouse, on the edge of the town of Haslingden, high above the River Irwell, one woman has created a bespoke leather-business that draws on multiple skills in both leather and textiles. Today, as she makes work of the highest quality, for clients reaching across the globe, she has become an advocate for those same skills, campaigning to reintroduce them into this valley and beyond.

Denise Pearson set up Deni-Deni twenty years ago. From two main work areas – one crowded with specialist machines, many rescued from liquidated businesses, upper shelves neatly packed with specialist threads, hardware, leather and other materials; another clean and bright with sewing machines and work benches – she produces exquisitely finished work created for some of the world’s leading luxury brands. Exclusive fashion brand Erdem; the venerable Mayfair-based fragrance, skin and hair care brand D.R.Harris; Camilla Staerk in New York, a leather specialist fashion and homeware designer inspired by the leather saddles of her youth; the bespoke British kitchen and furniture makers, Smallbone, from Devizes in Wiltshire; prestigious sports’ organisations and even the British Royal Household, are just some of Deni-Deni’s distinguished patrons. Alongside, Denise responds to personal requests for help resolving a technical issue with leather buttons or research and development for the structural possibilities for a future handbag or the creation of a unique leather and burr oak stationery bureau with matching address book for a client’s wife. Any technical cry for help is met with whole-hearted enthusiasm and meticulous research, and a refusal to be daunted by any challenge.

Denise credits both her technical skills and her relentless professionalism to her education and upbringing. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963, an only child, her enterprising father, from West Jesmond, took the family to New Zealand when she was three. There he worked as a butcher. Three years later, the family returned home, settling after a while back in Newcastle, where her parents built a business as a butcher and baker in nearby Hebburn. Meanwhile, Denise reports, many family members had a creative bent and made things, including her father, with a perfectionist streak that Denise has inherited. Denise’s father took her frequently to museums and art galleries, encouraging her interest in art, while Denise’s paternal grandmother, who had been a tailoress, patiently sat with her whilst sewing in the kitchen. So when in her teens, Denise moved to a school with a very strong Art department and a “phenomenal” needlework teacher, she was in her element. Art and needlework became her favourite subjects, at which she excelled, with the art room a constant refuge, she explains, “How I feel on the bench today is how I felt when I was fifteen.” It is her happy place.

Jonathan Fawcett, of yacht model makers David Fawcett, had a similar technical conundrum when they proposed a new cabinet idea to the design team of the Richard Mille Cup, to house the model yachts gifted to sponsors of the race. The Richard Mille design team specified a pale upholstery leather wrapped around the backboard. Denise, however, suggested an alternative that provided a cleaner, more refined finish and greater visual impact. She says, “They accepted my proposal and, this year, also added my suggestion to deboss the leather.” This large format debossing utilized one of Deni-Deni’s larger pneumatic blocking machines. Fawcett says, “Denise’s standards are as high as I could possibly imagine. It looks a simple process but that is only because the job has been done perfectly.”

One particularly absorbing project was the unique burr oak and leather stationery bureau that a client, David Jardine, commissioned for his wife. He had initially offered his wife a bespoke handbag, but she was clear that she wanted a beautiful writing case. “The word bespoke does not do it justice,” Jardine explains. “Denise came to our house to get to know us and the context where the piece was going to live. She wanted to know which pens we use in order to customise the pen-holders. The whole thing was an incredibly detailed and very thoughtful process.” Denise tracked down a craftsman to make the boxes and insisted on getting the hinges to lie as flat as possible. She also made a personalised address book with hand-painted flowers by every letter. Jardine says, “We call it the heirloom because it is so lovely. It sits in our hall. And the children are already vying for it!”

The fact that clients track Denise down in Lancashire from all over the country, for a great variety of projects, shows that not only are the skills of the leatherworker in demand but a lot of essential knowledge and experience is sometimes locked up in a few individuals. In some cases there is literally no one else who can do the job. It is this realisation as well as her innate desire to help people that has propelled Denise into her latest project: Deni-Deni Academy. Its first goal is establishing a course of instruction in leather working and footwear skills that can be delivered to 14- to 16-year-olds. “Schools don’t teach what they used to. It’s extremely upsetting” Denise comments. With the support of UKFT, and the Leathersellers and Saddlers, Deni-Deni is registering as a training centre, acquiring tools and equipment and developing a curriculum. Denise says: “There are many talented leatherworkers whose skills will never be passed on because of factory closures but we have to adapt to changing times, look to the future and think how can we offer opportunity.”

For if there are not the industrial opportunities for mass-production, Denise has shown that there is by contrast a strong demand for excellent creative hand-skills, in an ever-growing bespoke and luxury sector, where craftsmanship combined with ethically sourced materials can command high premiums. In this sector, leather is a primary material, with expert handling critical to bringing out the qualities that make it so alluring. To this end, Denise explains that she wants to instill in young students not just first-rate technical leather-working skills but a fully rounded understanding of and respect for leather. “From it coming through the door, understanding what you are looking at. Checking quality, pressure marks, growth scars and knowing how to wrap, store and label it,” Denise explains. She sums up: “I came in at a time when you could just about sense the scale of the industrial leatherworking of the past, but things had rapidly changed. No one could give me the job I wanted, so I had to create it myself. Now I feel duty bound to share what I know and contribute to the creation of a thriving leather industry. We have the support from industry and institutions – we should be incredibly ambitious – our heritage and innate connection to this material demands nothing less.” Having pioneered a contemporary career, she is now helping the industry evolve in a new context, where excellence is all. If there are the students to pursue it, and teachers prepared to instruct them, there is undoubtedly a market to support their skills.