Entrepreneurial new mother Stacey Jones saw a gap in the New Zealand fashion market for structured leather satchels, a retro fashion hit that has proven popular this season, and has built up a niche business online and through stockists in Australasia, called ThickAsThieves.
"I went back to the UK to get married and recognised there was a big trend in old-style leather satchels," said Ms Jones, originally from the UK and now settled in Tauranga.
"Everyone in London seemed to have one on their shoulder."
When she returned to New Zealand she searched locally and online for a similar satchel, and realised that no-one was supplying the local market.
About to embark on motherhood for the first time, and looking for a business she could run from home, she set about creating prototype designs with the help of a local leather worker, then arranged to have the bags handmade in Hong Kong and China.