By Nick Pernokas They say that a good writer should never interject himself into his stories. They say a lot of things. When dealing with “legends” of the West, they say when the legend outshines the fact, print the legend. Only sometimes, you don’t have to and this is one of those times. Most of […]
Features
Where There’s a Mum, There’s a Way
Breakin’ the Rules Like Proper Brits: The Cambridge Satchel Story by Gene Fowler British mum Julie Deane found herself in a pickle one day back in 2008. Her eight-year-old daughter was being bullied at school and Deane decided to move both the girl and her six-year-old son to a private school. But she and her […]
Mean Jean Leather
By Nick Pernokas Thirty-six-year-old Lyndsi McGee grew up in central California. In her twenties, she moved to Los Angeles. Perhaps it was the ghost of L.A.’s pop culture, that is so prevalent there, which fueled her love for 1960s retro fashion. “I was an avid vintage shopper,” says Lyndsi. “I always loved the classic Sixties […]
BUSINESS IS BOOMING AT BRONCY DONKEY LEATHER
Moccasin-style footwear collections spark leap of success and faith By Lynn Ascrizzi It’s easy to recall a business that has the charmingly quirky name, Broncy Donkey Leather Company. It trips off the tongue and delights the ears, and we might even find ourselves repeating it a number of times, just for fun. But the company […]
Tanner Custom Leather
Heading West – I mean East – To Texas Horse Country By Gene Fowler Christmas morning, 1986, in Wilcox, Arizona. Eight-year-old Adam Tanner tears into his presents. His face lights up at the first glimpse of one particular gift emerging from the Santa-Claus-and-snow-scene wrapping. A Tandy Leathercraft Starter Kit. “My uncle, who had made a […]
On the Fringe
By B. Crawford People in Austin, Texas, like to live on the fringe of music, architecture, business and politics. But no one lives more on the fringe of the Austin fashion scene than Kimberly Brown, the founding force behind Austin-based Fringe Hill Design. “When I started my company, I felt like I was on the […]
Brandit Franco: Drifting No More
By Nick Pernokas Brandit Franco grew up in the heart of Florida’s cowboy country. The family business was starting colts and training ranch horses. Brandit’s father, Sam Franco, took a lot of horses to ride that weren’t making it in someone else’s training program. Sam trained everything from Quarter Horses to wild Mustangs in the […]
Bill Gomer: The Teacher Rides Away
By Nick Pernokas The 13-year-old boy sat in the shade of the air-conditioned railcar that he slept in at night. The inch-and-a-half thick harness made hard work for him as he pushed the awl blade through it. Still, his hands were strong. He’d been punching holes in leather since he was five, and he’d found […]
TEAM SPIRIT IS AT THE CORE OF A YEAR-OLD, GROWING FAMILY BUSINESS
Missouri company supplies leather and other custom cut parts, like sweatbands. And they offer leatherwork classes. By Lynn Ascrizzi Sometimes, what is small, nearly invisible and seemingly insignificant, is what holds things all together. Such is the case with the humble sweatband, that important but little regarded band of leather or other fabric sewn inside […]
Weinaug Leather – Classic Western with an Alien Twang
By B. Crawford If you bring a knife to a gunfight, at least make sure it has a nice sheath. Tooling a bull on a dead cow is ironic. These words of leatherworking wisdom come straight from Kingsbury, Texas, workshop of 25-year-old Trevor Weinaug, the founder of Weinaug Handcrafted Leather. Trevor is 100% Pure-D Texan, […]