The Saddler's Post

Paul Smith is a factory manager with Albion Saddlemakers, based in Walsall, England, and a global leader in the industry. Paul’s extensive knowledge of the trade takes him around the world in the company’s relentless drive for remarkable quality and superlative performance. He talks to Christian whilst on a business trip to Wellington, Florida.The Albion Brand StoryStarted in 1985 by Paul and Sherry Belton, the Albion England brand was originally born out of a desire to pioneer a truly premium range of equestrian competition saddles, bridles and accessories which exceeded all expectations.Albion’s (meaning ‘Old England’) guiding principle is simple, to always deliver a supremely superior quality product, blending traditional values and artisan craftsmanship with revolutionary innovation and state of the art technology. At the heart of Albion’s success is the tremendous pride the company takes in producing beautifully handcrafted country lifestyle items, which embrace the best of British design combined with carefully honed skills and processes that have been passed down through the generations.After realising the potential of applying Albion’s undisputed heritage for exceptional quality to other country pursuits, the natural way forward was to establish a stronger lifestyle positioning for the brand. The roll out of a carefully chosen selection of exquisitely designed lifestyle products to satisfy the aspirations and intrinsic desire for items of distinction as demanded by the discerning Albion customer followed. Currently the range includes luxury candles, timeless handbags and clutch bags, stunning silk scarves and stylish umbrellas – with further exciting additions planned.

Stephen Sothmann is the President of Leather & Hide Council of America (LHCA). In this role, Stephen represents and promotes the interests of the U.S. hides, skins and leather industry before a wide-range of stakeholders, including U.S. and foreign governments, industry trade associations, media outlets, and other organizations related to global leather production and trade.To promote quality US leather as the leather of choice, both at home and overseas, working with stakeholders from producer groups to buyers, from fashion houses to end consumers. And to promote the industry encouraging free trade, overcoming logistics issues and exploring new opportunities. We strive to protect and promote the sector.To support our members as they build their businesses, develop new products and open new channels to market providing resources from research to trade insight and delivered through our international networks. We work to protect and promote the interests of every member whatever the size of their business or area of operations.To promote leather as a material, championing its sustainable credentials and building on the quality standards and processes that give us confidence in what we do. We work to establish best practice, to communicate that to end users, to create ambassadors for leather and to champion those standards around the world.

Brett Viberg is a third generation owner of a family business. VIBERG boots are expertly made from start to finish at their Victoria, B.C. workshop by a small team of talented craftspeople – just as they’ve always been made for the last 92 years. It’s taken five generations of innovation to make the world’s most beautiful and durable boots.Brett has re-shaped the long-standing family business into his vision, building on an established brand and bringing it into a newly defined marketplace, from an industrial boot manufacturer to stylish boot brand. Quality and integrity remains at the forefront as does the commitment to staying authentic to the family name, but Brett is successfully driving the company forward in a vastly different business world from the one his family had to face in prior generations.

From the Himel Bros. website – My passion for leather jackets grew out of a vintage clothing business that I started in 1993. The beginnings of the internet and the desire to accumulate knowledge as to which garments had value led me to research every detail of construction, heritage, and history of each rare piece I found. It was only after the publication of Rin Tanaka’s book Motorcycle Jackets: A Century of Design did I realize that I had been the source of many of the jackets in the book. It was that book that metamorphosed me from seller, to collector and researcher of leather jackets. My own family history was in sportswear manufacturing from the 1930s until the 1960s, so I felt a quasi-spiritual connection to the history of clothing manufacture. Even the name—Himel Bros. Leather—is an homage to my grandfather and his two brothers. I contacted the oldest schmata men left alive and picked their brains on company histories, sewing techniques, and designs to understand how to make perfect jackets. By working with some of the most talented knowledgeable people in the business, Himel Bros. was born out of sweat and research.I tracked down the finest most authentic hides from the best of the best tanneries globally, sourced the finest replica zippers from Japan and accumulated old stock parts over the course of several years. I sourced original machinery and parts, and where none were available, found the most authentic new materials for each period of jacket. I drew upon my collections of the rarest designs and tailored each pattern by hand, making each jacket one by one using 1930s bench made techniques.Our team are some of the finest leather craftspeople in the business and we pride ourselves on trying to be the best of the best as garment makers. Himel Brothers believes everybody deserves to have “One Good Thing”!

Will Ficner dabbled in making bags from reclaimed pieces of leather, his first real foray into leather craft stemming from a belt project. After doing a project entirely in leather he was hooked and chose to spend the next few years working primarily with leather.In 2010, Will decided to give his sewing and leather craft projects a name. A fusion of his name and the neighbourhood in Ottawa where he grew up inspired the name, Wilboro. Initially, Wilboro was purely based around making products for family, friends, the occasional commission and for himself. Since then, Will has been steadily building a fully operational leather and sewing workshop and is ever honing his skill set.Wilboro is a one-person design and fabrication company that thoughtfully designs durable bags and leather goods that introduce timeless style and function into your everyday life. All goods are handcrafted in the Wilboro Ottawa workshop from superior materials.

Misty Shaw is President of 1876 Media and a groundbreaking company with an idea for the leather arts and its artisans. Illum Atelier is a one-of-a-kind subscription-based online learning platform dedicated to teaching the worldwide traditional arts community the fundamental skills needed to find success at every level of craftsmanship. We have built a world-class filming studio in Salt Lake City, Utah where we invite artisans and craftsmen in the community from all over the world to create course curricula. Classes cover a myriad of topics including, but not limited to, the most fundamental understanding of types of materials, tools, and machinery, to full project-based instructional courses. We are striving to elevate and unite the traditional arts community through this unique learning experience.Vision – To elevate and unite the traditional arts community through authentic relationships and narrative, unique learning experiences, and industry events.

Pictavia Leather is owned and run by Hamish Lamley, based in Perthshire, the heart of Scotland. All leather products are designed and made by Hamish and his apprentices.Hamish has over a decade experience in traditional leatherworking, and through years of research and experimental archaeology has worked hard to explore Pictish culture. Hamish has consulted on and starred in various television shows to talk about the Picts and showcase Pictish culture.I began teaching myself leatherwork whilst bedbound for several years. It provided a way to focus my mind, and gave me a lot of time to pursue another avenue to researching my passion for history and archaeology. For me Leatherwork is also about function. I use traditional methods because they have also been developed over thousands of years, and are often the most functional and practical. I want my work to outlive me, and so I strive to create the most durable works to combine function and beauty.Leatherwork is my connection to the past. It is my way to solve problems as our ancestors did, to work at my own pace and see the world as they did.When I take knife, needle and thread to leather, it is with the same techniques that leather craftsmen have used for thousands of years as I explore early Medieval leatherworking methods and tools alongside their contemporary counterparts.There is the inherent challenge of trying to solve a problem using only the most basic of tools.It is my passion to recreate ancient Pictish artwork from the stone carvings and jewllery, bringing the old medium back to life in leather, and to research and produce historic replicas based on archaeological finds.

Tony Fantasia is an artist and leather worker and family man. He has a goal is to bring you the best quality custom design work at the best possible price. Tony strives to perfect his leather craft and has started to build interest in other mediums such as metalwork, foam sculpting and set design. And incorporating engraving and etching, along with wood working, to expand his general offerings to the public.