Our Story
It started in a small studio in Nairobi in 2019.
How it started
Laptop Skins Kenya began with a simple observation. Laptops carry the most personal parts of our lives. The work, the ideas, the late nights. Almost all of them look identical.
We started cutting skins in a small studio in Nairobi to change that, one laptop at a time.
Six years and over 10,000 skins later, we've worked with customers across East Africa. Students, lawyers, designers, engineers, founders. Every one of them wanted the same thing: something that fit exactly, felt considered, and said something about who they were.
That's still what we make. It's just what we're bringing to more people now.
"Quality and volume rarely coexist."
What we do differently
Most laptop skins are laser-cut in a single pass and stop at the lid. Ours don't. Every Tella skin covers the full device. The lid. The palm rest. The complete keyboard, individually cut for every key. Nothing is left exposed and no key looks like an afterthought.
The reason we can do this is craft. Every keyboard skin is hand-weeded in Nairobi. The tiny PVC offcuts between keys are removed one by one, by hand. It's slow, and it's why we can only make a small number at a time. It's also why the fit is unlike anything a machine alone will give you.
Hand-weeded in Nairobi · Individual key cutouts · Ready to apply
From LSK to Tella
Tella Skins is the next chapter. Same studio, same craft, same hands doing the weeding. Built for a wider audience and a premium standard from day one.
We work on a limited drop model because we have to. Each collection is small by design, not marketing. When a drop closes, it closes. There's no restock. Thirty skins per drop, then we move on.
It's a slower way to build a brand. It also happens to be the only way we know how.
The people behind the skins
Tella and LSK are built in Nairobi by a small team.
Kelvin
Co-founder
Started Laptop Skins Kenya in 2019 out of a studio in Nairobi. Obsessed with the details most people don't notice. The way an edge sits, the gap between keys, the finish of a corner.
Ian
Co-founder
Partner from the start. Runs the business side of both brands so Kelvin can stay close to the craft.
Kevin
Lead Craftsman
The reason our keyboards look the way they do. Cuts and hand-weeds every skin that leaves the studio, one key at a time. Nobody does it faster or cleaner.
Made for real people.
A few skins we've made recently. Every one precision-cut for a specific laptop, and a specific person.
Follow along at @laptop_skins_254
See what we're making right now.
Shop Drop 001