Company History
An independently owned luxury leather, lifestyle, and retail company, our story begins in 1980 with a belt. Handcut and handstitched in a hayloft in Hertfordshire that founder/entrepreneur Graeme Ellisdon had rented for just £2 a week. Aged just 25 years old and having invested £500 of his own money into launching his fledgling brand, OSPREY LONDON quickly became all the rage with the UK's leading retailers and both rock and real royalty snapping up his beautiful, handcrafted leather belts.
Foreseeing that fashion's focus was sure to move away from the waist, Graeme used his love of leather and traditional saddlery skills to create the first of many gorgeous and practical bags and small leather goods for men and women, earning OSPREY LONDON a worldwide reputation as an affordable luxury leather brand with a quiet but spirited take on British style.
Today, OSPREY LONDON products are made by highly skilled craftsmen in the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and India, working to Graeme & Alex Ellisdon's design briefs. No matter where each product is made, it then undergoes rigorous quality control checks at the company's UK headquarters to ensure it is worthy of the OSPREY LONDON name.
ONLINE
Having always envisaged OSPREY LONDON as a lifestyle brand, today’s online collection not only continues to grow with seasonal new injections of leather bags and accessories, but also to diversify with the successful introduction scarves, silk ties, clothing, a home fragrance range, precious jewellery, gifting and sunglasses. However, our online store is just the tip of the iceberg and for a full sensory experience of the brand, it's worth paying a visit to one of our stores.
LIFESTYLE STORE
With an innovative approach to retail, in 2002 the company opened OSPREY HOME, the exciting contemporary lifestyle store in a picturesque rural location outside St Albans, which in more recent times has become something of a rural retail destination. Today the location houses one of the brand’s sixteen outlet stores while OSPREY HOME showcases not only branded leather accessories, clothing and gift collections but also collaborations with artists such as Grayson Perry alongside furniture, lighting, art and sculpture. These are all personally sourced by Graeme and Alex on their travels from companies which share the same values, using traditional techniques and natural materials to create special products that stand out from the crowd. All can be enjoyed over drinks, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner in the brand's popular Saddlery Cafe.
OUTLET STORES
Inspired by the development of the outlet sector in the USA, the first OSPREY LONDON outlet store opened at York Designer Outlet in 2009. "I was convinced that the right product in a beautiful store with great service at outlet prices was going to be a winner," Graeme said. In 2010 OSPREY LONDON was awarded best newcomer in the industry ORDA Awards and now has a chain of UK outlet stores. "The opportunities for expansion are exciting," says Alex.
HYBRID STORES
Editing together the best of our outlet offers with new season leather collections and homewares, the brand now operates a popular new hybrid retail concept in Radlett, which echoes OSPREY HOME in that it also has likeminded tenants and a great cafe to boot!
WHOLESALERS
"When I founded the company back in 1980, our products then sold exclusively through wholesale accounts and collaborations with other designers," says Graeme. "Today, alongside our son Jack, we are establishing new wholesale accounts, but this time with first class online retailers, which gives us a great opportunity to expand the brand's reach to a wider demographic."
If you are interested in learning more about B2B opportunities with OSPREY LONDON, please reach out to jack.ellisdon@ospreylondon.com.
LEGACY PROJECT
In 2015, the Ellisdon family invested in a new home for the brand, set within 125 acres of rolling Hertfordshire countryside. "Embarking on a project to restore and enhance this historic building has been a huge undertaking but from the hand-knapped flint we've used to face the back of the building to the recreation of the original cupola, these details can be seen as emblematic of our approach to design and craftsmanship," Graeme explains. While the building restoration nears its completion, the Ellisdon's plans to transform the gardens and rewild the grounds mean this truly is a legacy project.