Conversations with Hannah Christine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Christine.

Hi Hannah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I studied apparel design in college and while designing my senior runway show realized how much I enjoyed working with leathers, furs, and suedes. Once I graduated, I was hired for visual marketing by anthropology and later as a designer at Dillard’s Corporate.

I knew I wanted to work with different hides so I began learning old indigenous techniques for leather crafting. Once my skills were perfected, I started Hide & Hunter as a kind of a side hobby. I loved making individually unique bags that utilized the raw edging and imperfections of the hides. Just like you and I, we all have imperfections and scars and those are part of what makes us unique.

Through time, I realized that the more rugged, time-honored bags I made were by far the most popular of our designs. People love the aging and markings found on some of our pieces that only come through time… and that’s something no one can reproduce or fake.

This eventually spurred my interest and love for upcycling and repurposing vintage accessories, hides, and apparel. Now, we are available in numerous retail shops and also have our first brick-and-mortar on the historic Morris Ave in Downtown Birmingham, Alabama.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a rough road but it definitely hasn’t been easy.

I think any time someone creates a product they believe in and are proud of there’s a level of fear or hesitation that it might not be received or respected by the market as much as we do.

Being a small business with a small budget made for slow growth, but it also taught us how to honor the process and ensure we are guaranteeing our customers a quality product.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in custom, handcrafted leather goods.

Each of our bags is individually unique because the design process, from start to finish, is all done by hand with little, to no, exact measurements. We cut the designs out from the hide strictly based on the raw edging and the feel of the hide itself.

Even if we were to make the same design over and over again, because the process is done by hand utilizing the raw edging and markings of the hide, each bag would have its own personal flair and personality.

I am most proud of the fact that I am intentional with where I source the hides, that every bag is meticulously crafted, and that we implement low-waste methods and repurposed pieces in our collections.

Not only that, 10% of every sale is donated to outreach – so our customers not only look good wearing our product, they’re doing good as well.

What do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy is giving back. I am so proud that we have been placed in a position of sending.

We have had the blessing and honor to help fund numerous outreach trips and organizations over the past three years and we have never been so happy and fulfilled in our lives…

To see that we are able to make an impact with what simply started out as a product made from passion and enjoyment!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hideandhunter.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hideandhunter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hideandhunter
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hide-and-hunter-birmingham?osq=hide+%26+Hunter