Jocasi specialises in handmade bags, belts and other accessories made from top quality Indonesian leather. The craftsmanship is extraordinary: there are meaty, hand-woven handles, heavy metal chains, and solid, gate-like clasps. There are fat leather belts which feel as soft as babes' bottoms and cute clutch bags.

It all started with the name, which emerged from Simon's psyche one day after the birth of their daughter Jodi. Simon scribbled down the first two letters from each name to spell, Jo-Ca-Si. He registered the website and a company in that name without knowing what they'd use it for.

Back then, the couple were developing property in Bali. Carla was designing in her spare time and, after becoming friends with an incredibly talented local leather artisan, got some samples made. One of the first (which became their best-selling Parax design) was inspired by a traditional Indonesian bag which she saw locals using to carry fish.

The couple decided to return to England and brought some samples with them. It was a weird time, they had thought of settling in Indonesia, but then Bali was bombed and everything changed. "We were lucky, we missed it by a couple of weeks," remembers Simon. "We knew a couple of people who died. it was really, really awful."

In the UK, Carla and Simon got in touch with a some independent boutiques to see what they think of the bags. The positive response was immediate and the orders started coming in. Since then, Jocasi has become the best-selling concession in Topshop's Oxford Street flagship store where it started life with half a rail before being singled-out by the shop's management and given a high profile position on the ground floor. A shed load of celebrities began appearing in magazines wearing Jocasi (including Girls Aloud, Kate Thornton, Cat Deeley and Tara Palmer Thompkinson). With loads of celebrities buying Jocasi bags and belts themselves, the label's reputation has spread like a vicious rumour. Now Jocasi is stocked in over 100 boutiques in the UK as well as in Harrods, Selfridges and House of Fraser stores. Word of the buttery soft bags and belts which are all handmade by crafts people in the company's Indonesian factories, has spread to the US. America has been quick at getting on the Jocasi case and its wares are already stocked at almost 300 outlets including New York boutiques like Big Drop and Atrium in New York as well as in Bloomingdales, Diane Merrick and M.Fredrick.