Fiona Kempton, designer and owner of Kempton and Co., was born in 1977 and raised in a house by the sea in rural England, setting the stage for a rather unique childhood and a lifetime connected to the ocean. It was due to her address, in fact, that she was introduced to sewing as Kempton's parents owned a business taking scuba enthusiasts off the country coast. She'd often catch her father stitching wetsuits and canvas fly fishing bags which eventually led to her sewing make up bags and pencil cases with Liberty fabric. That is, up until her father introduced her to leather. 

 

John Kempton was a former racehorse trainer and jockey (winner of England's famous Grand National in 1967) who also engineered beautiful leather saddlery that Kempton believed would look exquisite as re-imagined handbags. Growing up by the sea in the country, the distressed leather of her old riding boots, the heavy waxed canvas of the horses' rain rugs, leather straps and buckles solidified her love for equestrian design and culture.

 

She continued on to study fashion design in London's Kingston University where she graduated, moved to New York, and spent the next ten years of her life designing for major brands. As exciting as it was, Kempton was not allowed the same artistic creativity and freedom she experienced creating her own bags as a child. Kempton then started to design on her own again, more seriously this time, and created a tech-friendly bag with an in-built protective sleeve that was well received amongst her peers. It was as stylish as it was functional and the positive feedback was just the push she needed to follow her instincts and start her own business.

 

Kempton & Co. was born in Brooklyn of 2010. Since its conception, Kempton has used her heritage as one of her main inspirations and designs bags with soft leathers and textiles juxtaposed with the utility of equestrian hardware. Kempton prides herself in always maintaining an artistic approach to function and it is a philosophy that the company strives to maintain with each and every bag.