A kitchen table, a handful of leather swatches, the smell of hide: this is where Epicuirienne began, when Frédérique Dewez decided to follow a childhood instinct. From her Belgian workshop, she cuts and stitches bow ties and belts by hand, from leathers she has chosen one by one. The grain of each skin guides her hands, so no two pieces are ever quite alike.

The choice of material is unusual. The bow ties are made from upcycled salmon leather, recovered from the food industry and tanned in Lyon, fine-grained with a shifting depth of colour. The belts are built on cowhide tanned in Comines, Belgium, paired with traceable metal buckles, mostly crafted in Italy, whose origin is always clearly indicated. Everything is then cut, assembled and checked piece by piece, in Belgium.

Certified as an artisan since 2021, the brand claims full traceability, from the raw skin to the final stitch, and guarantees every piece for five years against manufacturing defects. It reaches beyond the object: workshops are already offered to people with disabilities, and a social ambition is taking shape, with the aim of investing 30% of profits in intergenerational projects chosen with its community. This is leatherwork that stands behind its gestures as much as its commitments.