About Us
A small house, working slowly
LeatherWear began in 1998 with one bench, two people and a conviction that a bag should outlast the decade it was bought in. Very little about that has changed.
What we will not do
Corrected grain
We use full-grain and top-grain hides only. Sanding the surface and stamping a fake grain onto it makes a hide look uniform and wear badly. We would rather sell you the scar.
Leather raised for fashion
Every hide we buy is a by-product of the food industry. We will not commission an animal to be raised for its skin, and we ask our tanneries to prove provenance.
Seasonal churn
We do not run a spring/summer and autumn/winter cycle. Pieces stay in the collection until they stop being good, which so far has not happened.
Glued seams where stitches belong
Adhesive is faster and it fails. Load-bearing joins are saddle-stitched with waxed linen, two needles, by hand.
Numbers we are quietly proud of
- 27
- Years at the bench
- 34
- Artisans in the atelier
- 128,000+
- Pieces made by hand
- 100%
- Full-grain leather