Kattasche is a small leather atelier based in the beautiful Illawarra region of the South Coast NSW. Designer and leathercarftswoman Katja Handt specialises in designing and making fine leather bags and accessories that are traditionally saddle stitched by hand, made with the best and carefully curated materials from Australian and international suppliers and created for longevity.

Her leatherwork is the confluence of twenty-five year experience as an artist working across a wide range of projects in the performing and visual arts. A traditional apprentice-ship as a dressmaker in Germany fuelled a passion for high quality craft and was a great foundation for a degree in theatre design at Central Saint Martins in London. In Australia Katja has been designing sets and costumes for theatre and exhibitions (including for companies such as Belvoir, Sydney Festival, The Maritime Museum and others) as well as managing costume props workrooms on feature films.

She fell in love with leather as a working material whilst making belts and armour for the Narnian Navy and George Miller’s War Boys. In 2020 she up-skilled in traditional French leather craft and transformed her online Etsy shop into a studio for bespoke leather goods. Kattasche brings together her desire for creating with her hands; her sensibilities as a costume designer when she co-create a bespoke bag with a client; and her passion for sustaining our beautiful planet and heritage crafts.