A passionate leather craftsman
Print Edition
NIU Xiaokai is a craftsman in the true spirit of the word. His dedication is obvious every morning when he goes to his studio on Qixin Road, puts on an apron and starts making leather bags.
Handcrafted bags and purses are his business as well as his hobby. He does bags to order, tailoring them to the requests of customers. He also holds workshops to teach other people the craft.
“My love for handmade crafts was always in my subconscious,” said Niu, who looks like a bit of a hipster in his black-frame glasses and casual plaid shirt. “It was always going to burst forth at some time or another.”
During his childhood, his mother did needlework and sewed clothes for her son. Niu watched in fascination at how hands can create useful, often beautiful objects.
As an elementary school student, he tried to make shoe soles and cloth sacks with a sewing machine. In high school, he started to make models of sailing boats. The more items he made, the more his fascination deepened.
Five years ago, Niu saw a handmade leather belt when shopping. The belt was so beautiful that Niu was captivated.
“I thought that if such a handmade belt is possible, then I can try to make it as well,” he said.
He looked up Internet tutorials about making leather belts on the Internet and soon collected all the tools he needed. He started with the basics, studying the texture of leathers and how to sew or glue pieces together. Now, five years on, his latest work is a bag whose style is inspired by briefcases that were prevalent in Shanghai in the 1940s.
Niu first started out with the family home as his workshop. Later, he quit his weekday job and rented a separate studio in Minhang. He began accepting customized orders, and the more bags he made, the more his reputation grew. Every month nowadays, he receives about 10 orders, which provide him adequate income.
“While I was still working out of my home, I opened up an online store to sell the products I made,” he said. “My parents were worried about the prospects of such a business. They keep asking me if I would earn enough money and if I needed their financial support.”
As his client list grew and his income expanded, his parents’ anxiety turned to pride.
Handcrafting a leather product takes at least 10 processes, including a blueprint, cutting, carving patterns, dyeing, sewing and polishing, he said. Each process has to be done with great patience and care because mistakes can require starting all over again from the very beginning.
It usually takes him 10 days to half a month to finish a product. Niu’s clients are willing to wait because the finished products are so superbly crafted.
“A customer once asked me to make him a briefcase in the style of US Army bags during the World War II,” he said. “It required several different types of material and it took me an entire month to finish. In the end, the client was very pleased.”
Different types leathers are suitable for different kinds of products. Niu is now so savvy about leathers that he can tell where each piece comes from and exactly what needs to be done in processing it.
“Leathers have personalities,” he said. “Some tend to change colors, and some are prone to scratch marks. Then too, customers have different tastes in what leathers they like.”
Two years ago, Niu borrowed a friend’s place to open a workshop to teach leather-goods making. He recruited pupils from the Internet. Most of his current class are white-collar workers, with a smattering of college students.
“They all like to collect high-quality, good-looking leather products and are fond of handicrafts,” said Niu.
Niu moved into his own workshop in March.
“I needed my own place to work,” he said. “It didn’t need to be big, but it needed to be cozy — a place with a relaxing vibe.”
The studio on Qixin Road covers about 20 square meters and it serves as a workshop, classroom and small warehouse.
Niu teaches his pupils to make card and key cases. Almost all of them have never handled unprocessed leather before, so it proved a big challenge to learn.
“They are all so proud to see the products they finish,” he said. “For me, it’s also satisfying. I always wanted to have a group of people to share my passion with.”
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