By Bill Crawford Victorymade Goods is like the song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” by Richard Thompson – bold, ballsy and forever cool. Like Thompson, Danial Orchard, the founder of Victorymade, is a dedicated craftsman with a passion for bikes. But unlike Thompson who is British, Orchard is Canadian. “Full disclosure,” Danial confessed from his workshop […]
Features
German Artist Aline Seiler
It’s in the Bag! Alles dreht sich um Taschen! By Gene Fowler German leather artisan Aline Seiler has always been into bags. “As a teenager,” she says, “I always wanted to know about the latest bag of the season and one of my big, big dreams was to one day own a designer bag. I […]
Crimson Willow: The Horse She Rode In On
By Nick Pernokas Rachel Dake inherited a love of horses from her mother. When she was nine, Rachel got her first horse. She spent the next few years competing in various equine events in 4-H, but never suspected this passion would lead to her eventual livelihood. Rachel started barrel racing while in college in Independence, […]
Julie Simon Turns Reality TV Addiction into New Career
by Liisa Andreassen When Julie Simon started watching Project Runway, an American reality TV show that focuses on fashion design, she had no idea that one day it would inspire her to trade in her computer for a sewing machine. After more than 12 years working as a graphic/web designer, she was ready for a […]
FOOTWEAR FOR THE STARS
Sharlot Battin has made a full career out of building shoes, boots and sandals for Broadway actors — and beyond. By Lynn Ascrizzi Who’d think that someone born and raised in the old railroad town that is Whitefish, Montana, would establish a highly unique career in New York City building leather footwear for celebrities of […]
TRADING IN HIDES AND LEATHER
Andy Barta gained expertise in the business from the toughest of teachers By Lynn Ascrizzi After working for 55-plus years in the hide and leather business, Andy Barta knows a thing or two about weathering the ups and downs of the trade. His hands-on confrontations with adversity and his knack for bouncing back with fortitude, […]
Tim Bishop: Just What He Wants to Do
By Nick Pernokas Tim Bishop was raised in the small, eastern New Mexico town of Logan. Tim’s high school had only 13 in his graduating class. In this rural ranching community, there were only a few choices in lifestyle for a teenager. Tim chose the most attractive one to him which was the western one. […]
Big-Small World of Leathercraft, South African Edition
WOODENWULF by Gene Fowler As I sat wondrously immersed in the universe of the television program Yellowstone during its recently concluded fourth season—the hats, the horses, ranchers, cowboys, pretty women, gorgeous country, and a lone guitar—the notion that folks might have been savoring the same scenery on the other side of the world was the […]
Clinton Hole: Finding a Niche
By Nick Pernokas The June heat came off the tarmac in shimmery waves outside the cattle pens at the Oklahoma City stockyards. It was just another sale day, and the cowboy enjoyed moving the cattle up the alleys on horseback after they were sold. It was just a part-time job, but it let him get […]
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Highly diversified, big city leather company ‘sources the world’ for finest tanned leathers, suede and nubuck By Lynn Ascrizzi Global Leathers, a wholesale/retail distributor based at West 35th Street, New York, New York, carries a richly diverse array of tanned leather products sourced from around the world, including exotics, metallics, natural hair-on leather skins and […]