Welties craftsman shares his passion for leatherwork

Phillip Ngirazi's dream is to ultimately teach and restore the seemingly dwindling art and skill of leather handcrafting, including strap cutting, curving, design and hand-stitching, leather repair and maintenance.

Phillip Ngirazi has found his passion in creating beautiful and functional art through crafting leather pieces.

We’ve all heard the expression, “You don’t work a day in your life when you do what you love”

For 46-year-old Phillip Ngizari, this rings true. Born in Zimbabwe, Phillip would never have imagined he’d be a small-business owner in a creative capacity. “I studied accounting, so I always imagined myself working in a bank,” Phillip explained.

Phillip also made a leather strap to attach to his glasses – this is ideal when doing something where there is a risk of dropping your glasses.

After cutting the edges he uses another tool made from wood to curve and refine the edges, he uses his own homemade beeswax leather food to ensure the leather retains its shine and is waterproof.

Skip Swanepoel, a leatherworker in Durban, introduced Phillip to the craft in 2014. “He did leatherwork as a hobby, and I was lucky to have him as a mentor,” Phillip explained. He went on to say that one of his first creations was a belt, saying, “I enjoy creating belts, straps, and collars – they may appear simple, but they play an important role”.

Phillip Ngirazi has found his passion in creating beautiful and functional art through crafting leather pieces.

As Phillip continued to learn and discover new ways to create leatherwork, his passion grew. His dream is to ultimately teach and restore the seemingly dwindling art and skill of leather handcrafting, including strap cutting, curving, design and hand-stitching, leather repair and maintenance. Thus, through his work, he hopes the current generation is encouraged to appreciate the beauty of natural resources and to work with their own hands.

Here you can see a before and after of what the leather looks like at the start of the process and the final piece. Note that the leather on the left is not from the same batch as the leather on the right.

Phillip named his leatherwork shop after the Sulcata, also known as the African Spurred Tortoise, because of the beauty and unique patterns on its shell. “As a child, I had many opportunities to see and interact with tortoises, so I chose one as my logo to represent the organic shapes and textures, as well as the longevity of leather,” Phillip explained.

Phillip makes everything by hand and isn’t afraid of a challenge. “I enjoy making custom pieces for customers and am not afraid to experiment with my craft. I also restore and repair older leather shoes, jackets, and bags – if someone comes in with a problem I haven’t solved yet, I’ll think outside the box and come up with a way to repair the leather rather than sending it away,” Phillip added.

Phillip uses a specialised tool to cut the edges of each piece of leather, this ensures comfort and enhances the aesthetics of the final piece.

Phillip with one of his creations. He used a variety of different patches of leather to create this handbag.

Phillip is a happily married with three children. He, like any other self-employed entrepreneur, finds himself competing with larger corporate retailers that manufacture their products on a much larger scale.

“I’ve had people come to me and tell me how much they like a bag I made, and then go on to say that they saw a similar one in a shop for much cheaper,” Phillip explained, adding that while he understands that his prices are higher than those of retail stores, it’s not because he wants to make a bigger profit, but because the value of his crafts lies in the fact that each individual item is unique in and of itself, and has taken him many hours of hard work and quality materials to create.

Phillip encourages members of the community to contact him if they require a belt, bag, or a custom leather piece. Send him a WhatsApp on 062 931 8839.