STRONG SHAPES INSPIRED BY NATURE

Since his childhood, Vincent Urbain had always been attracted to leather and handmade work. Born in Belgium, he graduated in Economics and decided to move south.

Vincent, a water fanatic, landed in Cape Town in 2003 where he wind-surfed and undertook different jobs. One of which was distributing rough handcrafted leather sandals, made by Tanzanians crafters on top of the Cape Town train station.

Soon Vincent realized that, more than distributing, he wanted to explore the intricacies of the world of leather and having some spare time, he started to first make a shoe from hide, it took him 3 days and 3 nights. Completely self-taught and hungry to learn, he then moved onto a bag, then an armband ...

Moving from hides to leather, the range started to define itself and in 2005, urban africa was born: minimalistic, elegant, funky, timeless in design, trendy, understated but aspiring.

The 2010 range consists of 12 very different pieces. The range is designed by Vincent and Reanne Gray and all pieces are individually handmade by Vincent. No two pieces look the same.

Pieces within the range include handbags, belts, wallets, cuffs and books. Off cuts of the leather are used to create handmade leather key rings and novelty items.

urban africa helps local communities by providing them with leather armbands made from off-cuts that local craftsmen use as a base for their jewellery.