Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - March/April 2021

109 Lake expectations Foxfield Leather draws its inspiration from the magnificent Lake District and offers premium products. Here, director Robbie Gontarz tells us more  When did you start up and why? Claro(mcr) Ltd and the Foxfield Fine Leather label was formed to celebrate the legendary Sammy G’s history in the UK leather trade, which can be traced back to 1947 here in the UK. This is coupled with a focus on the wonderful English Lake District, where my mum hailed from and is now the home of the label. What prompted you to launch the business? After many years using our expertise to supply the trade with budget accessories, we could see the trade changing and felt it was time to go back to what Dad did so well. Our aim was to deliver top quality leather goods at an affordable price. What challenges have you overcome since the company’s launch? Without mentioning COVID-19, we initially had issues with our brand name and logo registration where LVMH tried to stop us registering the brand, as the company felt we were infringing on its own brands. Since that time, the family and the business have lost our main inspiration, as both Mum and Dad sadly passed away recently. Tell us about your product offering. We select the finest leather to produce our products. All of our leather is dyed, and we never use synthetic coatings to colour or cover our leather. This gives the customer confidence when buying our products as they will never lose colour or peel. What are your most popular products? In the core colourful range, we have a few hot sellers, such as Eskdale, Thirlmere and Grizedale. However, since the launch of our brand new Cartmel collection, we have seen amazing sales on our Foxden pouch and also have seen great sales on the handbags and purses within this collection. There is nothing on the marketplace to compete with this COMPANY PROFILE