About Harrier

HARRIER NZ: The brand name Harrier is a nod to where the roots of this journey begun. 

Where it all begun: Growing up in the Hawkes Bay I was incredibly fortunate to have a rural upbringing which involved many adventures with my sister, our friends and the ponies. We often found ourselves on the Dannevirke or Hawkes Bay hunt field where we would proudly wear our tweed jackets, eat far too many lollies and spend the day following the hounds where ever they could pick up a scent.

I think this is where my love for tweed and leather came from, the smell of a leather saddle and bridle once you had spent many hours cleaning and polishing it was undeniably comforting and putting on my tweed jacket was like wearing armour. Back in those long beautiful Hawkes Bay days, blasting around on our ponies, we thought we were invincible!  

Who am I? My name is Emma McCutcheon and I am currently the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker in this little leather business. I obtained my trade at Massey University gaining a Bachelor of Design in Fashion. After 4 years of study I went on to work for some amazing New Zealand designers in their workrooms. In these early days it was clear that to be successful in the NZ fashion industry takes tireless hard work, grit and determination. It was exhausting! But I was hooked!  

After spending some time overseas travelling, working and learning about life I came home to Hawkes Bay and started a popular little equestrian based business making halters, bridles, breastplates etc. It took many, many years of trial and error, quite a few ruined pieces of leather and a lot of incredibly frustrating failed attempts at 'creating the picture in my head' to be able to be truly proud of a product I have produced from scratch. 

Credit where credit is due: Harrier would not have made it this far without the inspiration of an incredible human who helped bring many of these beautiful leather products to life, you know who you are and your tireless passion has been a life source throughout this journey. 

The Harrier workshop: Now I am based in the beautiful Waikato where my workshop is set up on a private residence in Tamahere. Every product that is purchased either through the website or your local retailer will have been created in this space. All products are cut, skived, punched, sewn, sanded, painted and finished right here in NZ, exclusively for you to enjoy. 

I truly hope you love and cherish your Harrier time piece as much as I loved creating it for you, thank you so much for supporting this lifelong dream of mine.

Yours truly,

Emma xxxx