Rising fashion talent: Original and handmade accessories

Deadly Ponies designers Liam Bowden and Katie Smith.

The designers at Deadly Ponies want everyone to dress in black. No, it's not because they're maddened goths or dedicated heavy metallers.

It's because they're hoping that "you'd have to wear all black because the bag was so incredible", says Liam Bowden, who along with fellow designer Katie Smith, creates the range of bags, leather goods and jewellery.

"Well, you wouldn't have to," Bowden says, "but it would be nice if they had to think twice about it. We try to make things that are a little different from everything else that's out there but we'd also eventually like to be the antithesis of the person who wants a little black bag that no one will notice."

There's no doubt the bags Deadly Ponies make appeal to more than just the flamboyant dresser, or even to those regularly dressed all in black. The innovative designs include interesting colours, shapes and the addition of unusual ornaments - such as dangling silver chains, fringes falling from a purse and leaf-shaped leather under twig-shaped wooden handles. They're selling in high-fashion boutiques throughout the country and are soon likely to be available in Australia and America.

Which means the biggest task for Bowden and Smith now is how to keep up the crafty philosophy that brought them together in the first place.

The pair met while doing bachelor of design degrees at Auckland's Unitec, and hit it off because of their shared love of making things by hand. "Things that were hands on, that you could treasure and use," Bowden says.

"Katie was making bags for herself and I was into making anything really, just out of bits and bobs, just making something cool out of anything I found. Then I screen-printed a few pieces of leather and people around us really seemed to like that, so we started making it into coin purses and wallets and bags. At first it was pretty basic but then we started patchworking leather together."

After being approached by stores that had seen and liked their work, Bowden and Smith began to sell their wares professionally. The name Deadly Ponies arose from a shared love of whimsical woodland animals and a couple of pairs of goatskin slippers which Bowden made nicknamed "the little ponies".

At first the ardent accessorisers just used to make one-offs, "and that was hard, because you'd never want to give anything up," Bowden says.

"I think when you have a passion for what you're making you always want to hold on to it."

Now, due to popular demand, they've started making whole ranges and have just sold their second official collection of bags and jewellery.

That means people will soon be able to carry a little bit of Deadly Ponies' handmade passion around with them. And maybe, just maybe, sometime soon, they'll all be dressing in black.