By Liisa Andreassen His real name is Kevin Parrish, but he’s affectionately known by most as “The Saddle Guy.” At the age of 13, he started out in the business washing saddles that were in for repair in his father’s hobby saddle repair shop. He worked there through high school performing various tasks such as […]
Features
VIVE LA FRENCH CALFSKIN!
At Orion Calf, Ltd, it all begins in France and with the way a calf is raised By Lynn Ascrizzi It is fine-grained leather, delicate but durable, soft and velvety to the touch. We’re talking, of course, about French calfskin — the real deal — an elegant and unmistakably dressy leather that lends class to […]
The TCAA: A Counterculture Movement
Why You Should Care By Nick Pernokas Recently I sat down with some of the officers, and long time members, of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association. We discussed the state of the high-end, high-quality western industry, and some of the problems that many of us face. I think you’ll be interested in what they had […]
Freddie Matara Leather: A Church of Our Own
By Gene Fowler Leathercraft artist Freddie Matara, best known for his stunning leather cuff bracelets and his leather watch bands, wanted something a little different when he went looking for a new living and working space about two years ago. The former frontman for the rock band Birthday had become an established artist in Brooklyn during the new millennium, […]
Lisa Sorrell
A Ladies Touch By Danna Burns Shaw When you visit with Lisa Sorrell you soon realize that she has a zest for learning and chooses to live a bigger and kinder life. Lisa was raised in southwest Missouri in a conservative church where the women all wore long hair and long dresses. Her mother began […]
Oak Street Bootmakers: Rebuilding the Footwear Landscape
By Gene Fowler Longtime Chicago-area shoe repairman John Vlagos chuckles recalling his reaction upon first learning that his son, George, was starting the handmade footwear business, Oak Street Bootmakers. “I freaked out, you know,” says the father, with obvious pride in his son’s success. Founded in 2010, Oak Street ships its trench boots, penny loafers, […]
Bruce Johnson: Bringing Back the Best
By Nick Pernokas When Bruce Johnson was 11, the spark was lit. That was the year he traveled to South Dakota to spend the summer helping his grandfather on his ranch. The cow-calf operation did a little bit of its work on horseback, and Bruce was hooked. He would return over the next several summers, […]
Occidental Leather is Moving Up
Tool bag maker gets big growth spurt with new ownership and new facility in Santa Rosa By Lynn Ascrizzi Almost 40 years ago, building contractor Darryl Thurner of Occidental, California, got a little tired of dropping tools on the job. The problem? No quality tool bags were available that fit the special needs of career […]
Anna Gavrilova: House of the Rising Sun
By Nick Pernokas In a small leather shop in the town of Lyubertsy, just outside of Moscow, rock music plays in the background while a young woman hand sews her newest creation. The handbag that she’s working on is unique, to say the least. This one-of-a-kind piece isn’t typical of the run-of-the-mill, leather handbag lines. […]
“Ah, Wilderness!”
Alkahest Moccasins & Leathercrafts — custom-made goods hand-built in the wild heart of Oregon’s high alpine country By Lynn Ascrizzi Eight years ago, on a fine spring day, Dustin Lyons and Tiera Ptacek set out on a life-changing, 350-mile odyssey, driving from San Francisco to Ashland, Oregon, in a tiny, Chevy Geo Metro. “We had […]