Accessories Artisan

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 then-husband were £23,400 short of the £24,000 annual tuition for both children. (The British pound,
Accessories Artisan

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 saddlebags.”  Lyndsi purchased a lot of the old handbags from thrift shops. By the time
Artisan Boot/Shoe

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 co-founded in 2019, by two Texas women, has earnestly grown into a significant success in
Saddles/Tack

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 little money doing leathercraft part-time while in college, helped me with the seven stamps and
Accessories

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 fringe of everything. Like I didn’t fit in perfectly anywhere. I was just a little
Saddles/Tack

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 Seventies and Eighties. Brandit grew up working cows in southern Florida, around Okeechobee and Kissimmee,
Accessories Leather Supplier

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 the base of a hat’s crown. Various kinds of hats and caps, be they Stetsons,
Accessories Artisan

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, the direct descendant of a German immigrant who made his way to the hill's northwest