“The name comes from Hide being leather - my first collections used to be made solely from leather - and the S. K being my initials,” says Hyde S.K designer, Sacha Knight.

Sacha studied fashion at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design in London but left more confused about what she wanted to do than when she had arrived. She found the course to be too commercial and geared towards mass production. “I knew that I wanted to be creative and I love accessories, bags and shoes and also to illustrate and sew,” says Sacha. “So I suppose my label began from there.”

She started by making a few things for friends and to sell in The Duffer of Saint George, where she worked as a sales assistant for 2 years after leaving college. From there, she hand-produced bags for Paul Smith
men’s wear show in Paris and sold limited collections in his stores in Japan and London. Sacha has also designed and produced accessories for Jessica Ogden’s London Show. In 2003, she designed bags for cult London label, Silas. The resulting Sacha bags were very popular and worked so well that they were sold out very shortly.

Sacha currently works on collaboration collections with Stussy America and more recently APC and PAM.

Hyde S.K is now sold at selected stockists worldwide and has become collectable items particularly in Japan, where customers are known to queue up for Sacha’s bags and accessories.

Sacha considered the highlights of her career to be so far were making pieces for some of the people who inspired her - “…Jessie the Devil ‘Eagles of Death Metal’ for his Speaking in Tongues video, Josh Homme ‘QOTSA’ and Brody Dalle ‘Distillers’.”

Inspirations
Sacha is Welsh American and inspirations for her work come from a strong interest in American Indians and Shamanism in particular. “I’ve spent a few summers in Palmdale, the Mojave Desert in California and Arizona where I researched the ‘North American Indians’ as inspirations for my collections.” Sacha’s other interests and some which occasionally pop up in her prints are Skulls, Vietnam camouflage, American bands - Eagles of Death Metal and Queens of the Stone Age, early 70’s rock, Adam and the Ants 1976-80, Joan Jett, Seditionaries, Tim Burton, Gothic Art, Hell’s Angels, Pirates, Aubrey Beardsley, The Occult, Nature, Old buildings, Wide Open Spaces…

The main selling point of Hyde S.K collection is that each piece is slightly different from the next as they are hand-crafted. “I illustrate all of the prints myself and add finishing details like beading and braiding by hand.” Occasionally Sacha offers little extras with the collection allowing the customers to personalise their own piece. All of Hyde S.K collections - from design, production to finish - are done in London.

“Much of my work today has a twisted American Indian feel (hand-finishing, beadwork and raw natural edges) with hints of the ‘classic’ (soft/simple silhouettes) and then a dusting of hippy 70’s America (unusual juxtaposed colour combinations, braiding and tassels)”.

Accumulatively these are the foundations and inspirations that make Hyde S.K.