Design Your Life with Vince Frost
Designing a life dedicated to craft with Bill Amberg
Listen on
Episode notes
Having one of your designs in the permanent collection of the V&A in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York sets the tone for someone who’s been hugely successful in their career. A design icon, some might say.
Bill Amberg is one of the most highly regarded leather workers in the world. So, it’s a shock to learn he flunked out of school to take a job on an oil rig in his teens. His passion for leatherwork began thanks to his architect mother who would bring home cobblers’ offcuts from the town he grew up in – Northampton – known as the centre of leather and shoemaking in Britain.
Amberg credits the moment he walked into Paul Smith’s first store in Covent Garden in the 80s and the fashion designer immediately bought his leather bags for the shop as a turning point in his career. His work in architecture and interiors grew alongside his hugely successful accessories business and is now the focus of Bill Amberg Studio. Today he supports young practitioners from a wide range of skilled crafting backgrounds to become successful businesspeople themselves.
Listen in as Vince and Bill discuss working in the creative industries in London in the 90s, the sustainability of leather and how his famous Rocket Bag came to be.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.