In 2005, creative director Liam Bowden began crafting leather goods in a small Auckland garage, guided not by formal training but by instinct, curiosity, and an uncompromising vision. Two decades on, Deadly Ponies has evolved into one of Australasia’s most recognisable names in luxury leather accessories, celebrated for its progressive design and meticulous craftsmanship.
To mark the milestone, the brand has unveiled a striking campaign in collaboration with renowned chef Josh Emett, transforming its signature brass hardware into sculptural, edible art.
For Bowden, the anniversary presented a rare pause in an otherwise forward-driven journey.
“I’m not someone that really likes to look back,” says Bowden. “I don’t take photos on holidays and prefer to just live in the moment. But, this anniversary presented the perfect opportunity to step back and create a moment to celebrate the past 20 years.”
Initially, his vision was expansive. “At first I was very ambitious, and wanted to take 20 photos with all different themes.” But with the realities of time, the idea was distilled down to a single, unifying theme.
“With this shoot, we wanted to celebrate the brand while also creating images that felt playful and fun, and weren’t necessarily product-focused,” says Bowden. He began mood boarding the possibilities, exploring unexpected pairings. One concept centred on juxtaposing hardware with unusual textures. From there, the leap to food felt natural.
Bringing the vision to life required the right collaborator, and for Bowden, that meant chef Josh Emett. Once on board, the pair began experimenting and sketching out concepts. “A couple of weeks later I came back into his kitchen and they’d interpreted my references into these little maquettes,” Bowden says. “I took those away and worked out what kind of shots I wanted to get and making sure the hardware would pop against the different textures.”
The result? A surreal, playful, and a fittingly unexpected way to mark two decades of design without compromise.
From the outset, Bowden’s approach to design was instinctive and grounded in function rather than decoration. With no formal fashion training, he taught himself to pattern-make and construct, shaping an aesthetic defined by form, utility, and the integrity of materials.
“Originally, I was sourcing hardware from shipping yard manufacturers to get these big, chunky chains and clickers, and that organically became part of our aesthetic.” What began as necessity soon evolved into a signature, with Deadly Ponies’ brass hardware now synonymous with the brand’s identity – a hallmark brought into focus in this latest campaign.
As the brand has matured, that once-industrial hardware has been refined into something more classic within the wider lexicon of handbag design, but for Bowden, the ethos remains unchanged. “Our design comes from a place of function and form and how to play with that, as opposed to it being too frilly or pretty. We’ve always been more focused on the beauty of the material.”
When reflecting on 20 years in business, Bowden says the greatest reward has been the life the brand has enabled. From setting up a factory in Thailand to visiting trade fairs in Italy and China, Deadly Ponies has opened doors to new places, people, and perspectives.
Closer to home, he values the chance to grow careers within his team and to experiment creatively without constraint. “A lot of places would be like, ‘Why? What money is that going to make us?’ Whereas we have the opportunity and privilege to have fun with it.”
As Deadly Ponies enters its next decade, the focus is firmly on evolution rather than expansion. Footwear, a relatively new category for the brand, has already widened its design vocabulary and introduced new skills to the atelier. Yet Bowden is clear that the future isn’t about chasing scale.
“This next chapter is about expanding what we do, while refining what we’re known for,” says Bowden. “We’re not interested in growing for the sake of it. It’s about going deeper, not wider.”
