What a peculiar little country we are, pumping out new, young design talent with a penchant for the experimental, yet finding reassurance in tradition; excelling at mass-produced fashion but cherishing bespoke. While the high street is a multibillion-pound industry, and the custom-made end of the market is tiny, this is a story that goes beyond numbers. There’s something about owning a unique thing that appeals to a British sense of individuality and taps into the relationship that we have with the notion and longevity. And while the high street produces 90 per cent of its goods abroad, limited runs of leather goods, Savile Row tailoring and one-off pieces are among the diminishing number of products still made in the UK.

So it’s a sector worth preserving — not just as a flag-waver but as a touchpaper for something bigger. If one factory in the UK can do a good job of covering jewellery boxes in leather, then perhaps others can be taught and other crafts from the almost defunct leather industry can be revived ... it was this idea, combined with an inkling, 2½ years ago, that it was time to get away from the (now toxic) concept of the one-season It Bag that set Anya Hindmarch off on what she calls Anya’s Porn Project.

Hindmarch’s porn takes the form of lizard skin photograph frames that can be embossed with personalised messages or hand-made, cream leather bride’s jewellery boxes, journals and travel wallets. It is both fetishistic (hence Anya’s Porn) and practical — and of course utterly spoiling. The attention to detail would keep the most finicky customer happy, while they choose from three leathers, two skins and half a dozen colours. The wallet is £500; not cheap, yet in its way it offers a silent admonishment to the recently departed culture in which women would offer up £1,500 for a mass produced bag slathered in a brand’s logo.

The project’s official name is Anya Hindmarch Bespoke, quietly launching now, from the Anya Hindmarch store on Pont Street in London. There are around 100 products, from engraved key fobs that cost about £65, and leather memory-stick holders to the classic, monogrammed or engraved crocodile Ebury bag that she designed years ago, at about £6,500. Eventually the service will also be available online.

Economic slumps might not seem like the obvious moment to focus your company on arcane luxury, but Hindmarch has a hunch that it will resonate particularly strongly now. “We didn’t know about this recession two and a half years ago,” she says, “but you could already feel then that people were beginning to feel resentful, or slightly humiliated by the whole It cult. And over the past 12 months, the bag that has never stopped selling strongly for us has been our classic Ebury.”

She isn’t saying that a fashion injection isn’t still important. “It’s what drives our business. On a personal level, it’s what drives me at nights sometimes, when I’m looking for the must-have jacket on the internet. But there has to be a traceable value. When people spend a lot of money on something now they really want it to be timeless.”

This is a designer with a track record in sound business decisions and savvy marketing moves — remember Be a Bag, the screen printed totes or I am Not a Plastic Bag, the canvas carrier that made her a household name. No wonder she has on her office wall various framed bastardisations of the bag, including the I am Not a Smug T**t. Not that she’s under any illusion that bespoke will ever be a huge part of her company’s economics, although some days she fantasises about setting up her own factory, and reviving the lost art of handbag-making in this country (only the Anya Hindmarch evening bags are made here). “I’ve watched the demise of British manufacturing since I started my business 22 years ago and wonder if that can be reversed.”

Bespoke is clearly a labour of love. “It’s easy to get on the expansion treadmill if you’re successful. This is a way of getting back to what I really enjoy most and re-establishing the core value of the brand.”

Tracing the value of these bespoke products will be easy — apart from all the fancy touches, the monogrammed boxes, the smell of those leather swatches, there will be one man working in the back of the bespoke shop embossing and “finishing” all the orders (which will be made in UK and France). And while £6,500 is undoubtedly a hefty tag, it looks almost modest next to the crocodile Hermès Birkin, which starts at around £14,000. In the end, price will probably prove less of an obstacle than the time involved: an embossed travel folio will be ready in ten days, but a completely bespoke travel bag takes three months. Will the modern consumer have the patience for bespoke? Only if they’re savvy enough to realise that anticipation is at least half the pleasure of acquisition.

OTHER BESPOKE SERVICES Penelope Chilvers Customers can customise to ensure the perfect tailor-made fit and finish of Chilvers’ popular Spanish boots. Options include calf sizes, height, colour, material and sole grips; penelopechilvers.com Rigby & Peller Lingerie created in luxurious materials from personal measurements to customers’ personal taste. From £305 for a bra and £800 for a basque at the Knightsbridge store (020-7589 9293).

Bill Amberg There’s really no limit to what bag Bill Amberg can make. If he can source the leather, he can make the bag (price on request). He is also launching Build A Bag in October, where you can customise bags (from £195), journals (£50) and dog leads (£75); billamberg.com

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