Fosaa

"The day, that we feel like we can't keep up anymore, is the day that we will quit. This is artisanry, and it should not be outsourced to anywhere else in the world" That's Malan Fosaa and her daughter Oda talking, and between them they're the whole team behind Fosaa, a brand from the Faroe Islands. They come up with the designs themselves, then cut and sew bags, wallets and jewellery out of fish leather by hand. Fosaa will last exactly as long as these two hold out, because they aren't planning any apprentices or successors.

More than once investors have offered Malan and Oda the chance to grow bigger. They said no, because growing would mean sitting somebody else down at the sewing machine.

Every piece is unique in its own way. Malan and Oda repeat one model two or three times, then take on the next one. Even those two or three don't match each other, because every fish has its own pattern on the skin. And once the skin is tanned, fish leather turns out tougher than you'd expect, so the bags last for years.

All the same, you could never call the choice at Fosaa limited. There are shoulder bags and crossbodies, backpacks, wallets and card holders, belts, cufflinks, tie clips, bow ties and covers for hip flasks.

The brand also has a whole line of jewellery with cod leather inlays, in every colour and to every taste.

As for clothing, there are sheepskin hats, mittens, scarves and baby booties.

When she started her business in 2012, Malan didn't pick salmon, cod and wolffish leather by chance. She wanted to make what nobody else makes, and to make it purely from local materials. So it came out unique three times over: every piece is as unique as the skin it's made from, every model stops at the third piece at most, and the brand itself lives only while Malan and Oda keep at it.

You can find some Fosaa pieces at Vágar airport, but the biggest choice is at Østrøm, the local designers' shop in the centre of Tórshavn. And whatever you pick here, nobody will be able to buy the same thing again tomorrow, or in a year, or in ten years.