Fish Leather – Bangle – red, open finish

Substantial, tactile, and unlike anything else on a wrist. This bangle is made from Nile perch fish leather. Handcrafted at Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya. Outside: fish leather in an open finish, meaning the natural scale texture is raised and tactile, matte, raw, closer to the original material. Inside: soft goatskin for a comfortable fit.

The Turkana region was hit hard by recurring droughts. Communities made the shift from herding to fishing, learning to work with the lake that had always been there. The fish skin that came with the catch was waste. Ira and James Ambani saw something else in it. They learned the craft, refined it, and built a workshop that today employs around twenty people, most of them women.

We love these bangles! The weight, the texture you can actually feel, and the way the scale pattern sits differently on every piece. A rare find for someone who wears things with intention. Each one arrives slightly different. That’s the nature of the material.