People of Bondi | Ben Thompson
The Charlie Middleton workshop featuring his pride and joy - the Nippy
To watch the video go to the BO website HERE.
People of Bondi | Ben Thompson
Ben had to move out of his place in Paddington in 2007 as the terrace he was living in was being sold.
“My workshop was already in Bondi, and friends had a spare room next door for rent, so I moved in.” He assumed that he would be “back in Paddo in 6 months” but, of course, that wasn’t the case. Ben is still here and living in North Bondi, now with his new fiancé Sophie. “Our area in North Bondi is just a quiet little suburban area, and a really nice place to live - that just happens to be near the beach! “
Ben is pretty happy with life right now. “I’m always trying to improve incrementally in most aspects of my life and the business, and am occasionally successful in those efforts.”
How does Ben spend the first part of his day? “Ineffectively. Haha.”
If you don’t know it you should. Ben’s workshop/shop is leather goods label Charlie Middleton on Bondi Road. He called it Charlie Middleton to differentiate this business from his eponymous street wear label.
“I started a clothing label in about 2003, and a year and a half later I decided to make myself a belt. I really enjoyed making it, and thought that they would sell, so added them into the range. Female friends and customers kept asking me to do soft belts so in 2006 I finally did.”
We wanted to know how he came up with the name. “Randomly. Charlie was my childhood dog, and in the late 90’s I was living in Middleton St , so that became my hotmail email address. It was such a good name that I decided to use it for the new label, but had no idea this would go on to be the main label.”
Now a master craftsman, Ben is self-taught. The carpentry skills from my early career translated well with the first belts I made in the firmer vegetable tanned leathers, so once I learned the rules I was up and running. The softer leathers we mostly use for Charlie Middleton were a much more foreign material to work in, so lots of trial and error in the early years. Coming up on 17 years now, I am still hand-making everything in Bondi, still learning, and I still take every opportunity to improve the products whenever I can.”
All of Ben’s leather goods are handmade, timeless and functional. He uses only high quality materials and techniques. Go and say hi.
