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Show us your leather


aleopold

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Clearly you ride. What sort of jacket do you wear? It seems hard to find armored jackets with a decent vintage aesthetic.
I can't begin to imagine how hot and uncomfortable those must be.
Those are ace. Who makes them? I've always liked the Flat Head ones, but I have no use for them.

thosqe are Heavy horsehide jeans made by Aero. If you look carefully there is no seam on the legs. one piece of leather from top to bottom

it is hot yes, obviously. not uncomfortable, but it is made for riding bikes, not for flirt.

i got an aero jacket, same leather.

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ok, didn't really know where to post this, this thread seems te most obvious...

has anyone got any experience with IH wallets, FH wallets and RM wallets, how do the leather compare?

I'm just wondering cause I've been pretty much drooling over the IH bifolds, but wondering why the price is so high compared to other brands and how the leather holds up to for instance FH or RM leather...

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Ah cr@p, my long-winded response got wiped out :(

Short-version:

RM and TFH have better leathers in terms of the cattlehide stuff.

RM's wallets, depending on which line they come from, starts off more refined and ages with an amber tinge.

Don't get RM's stuff which are drum-dyed, or drum-tanned, not worth it IMO.

TFH's leather ages with more of a golden tan (I haven't handled a really old one though).

But I would recommend this guy if you like TFH style wallets (he was making some pieces for them at one stage IIRC):

http://www.onesworker.com/

Although the consensus amongst long-time leather collectors is to avoid the big brands if you want Japanese leathers - the smaller workshops can make a better product at a decent price.

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Tiro -

I saw a 10 year old FH wallet at the Inspiration LA. It was more yellowish tan than say amber tone as mikecch stated earlier. I personally prefer the FH because of the design.

I think IH wallets are made by CALF instead of IH which may be the reason why IH wallets are more expensive.

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A couple of months back, I was presented with the glorious opportunity to work on a custom leather piece together with OGL, a local leather artisan in Singapore. Started together by long time friends, Johnny Low and James Dung, OGL has their own cult following all across Europe as well as many parts of the world. James and I were acquainted through a denim forum, where I found out that he was Singaporean and got to know more about his craft. I also met Johnny along the way, another avid denim lover, through a local board where he had a thread about leather.

On February 27, I made a trip down to their leather workshop to meet up with Johnny for the first time, as I was due for a visit to their as of yet to be opened leather workshop and also to pass him a procurement. There, I met James whom I didn't know, who was back in Singapore for a short period of time from Bordeaux, France, where he is largely based. We got acquainted in real life and we spoke about a variety of topics ranging from predominantly denim, to the forums and boards we participated in. I was also fortunate enough to be given to a first glimpse and a tour of the studio. Most generously, I was schooled on the various types of leather, their uses as well as maintainence and tools of the trade.

Having read about OGL previously, I knew that they had a lot of experience with customs and collaborations. Halfway into the converation, Johnny raised the possibility of a collaboration with me for a leather product. Initially I thought it was a joke, since I had practically no knowledge in leather or the design of leather goods. However, egged on by Johnny who was in every bit serious, as he encouraged me to design a product that I would use, I dived into the design of the prototype for something i decided on - a wallet.

While OGL was very well versed in a lot of Native, Workwear as well as contemporary styles, I thought that it would be fun to do something different. The concept of this wallet was inspired from 4 different styles - The standard gentleman's bifold, a basic money clip system, an easy access coin compartment as well as the concept of security. As I gave thought to a couple of variations, of which one of them eventually reminded me of the standard key pouch, through a stroke of luck I managed to come up with a design that integrated the 4 different systems I had in mind.

The following week, I met up with Johnny and discussed how it would look like. While my initial sketches were very raw, Johnny provided the expertise of his knowledge and he further refined the product to increase the functionality of it and the feasibility of it being created.The standard bifold I wanted it to turn into a trifold instead, merged very well with the placement of the money clip and the easy access coin compartment was well, easy to access. The addition of the strap to hold the trifold in place when closed was an essential that I wanted to keep because of the ingenuity of the concept and the functionality of it, even though I was warned that it would be a little inconvenient to access the notes, which was exactly what I wanted. I was also given the leather options available and it was lovely that I had the opportunity to work with predominantly lambskin as well as cowhide for this.

On March 15, the product finally came to fruition as it was finally completed. Due to other commitments, I was only able to view the final product in person a week later, as it was presented to me by Johnny. I was pleasantly surprised to finally see it in flesh as the finalised product didn't deviate from what I originally had in mind. In addition, there were also very nice and subtle additions such as the hidden buttons for the coin compartment, which would produce a beautiful patina with age, as I would imagine.

Overall I would say that I am more than satisfied with what I have received and am honoured that it will be a mainstay which will be available for purchase on the OGL website. I would like to sincerely thank Johnny and James for the opportunity that they have provided me with, as well as the knowledge that they passed on to me in the process. Special thanks go to Johnny for his labour in the execution of this wallet.

finally, you can of course make a purchase for this product here and view more of OGL's other products on their website.

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finally, you can of course make a purchase for this product here and view more of OGL's other products on their website.

Thanks Ranon for designing for us, this wallet adds another 'out-of-box' selection for us :)

Yeah, the lambskin does creates a different feel for contemporary concept.

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that is one tasty looking wallet, kudos ran and james, must spread...

hm, I'll post my cobra iphone case later on james ;)

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that leather cream stuff looks gross...

almost overlooked but anyhow, so IH sources out their wallets etc. to CALF?

is that 100% sure?

might have to look at CALF's online store then, the IH cordovan bifold looks crazy nice...

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hm, in that case, the question that remains is, is the leather they use on the IH stuff the same leather they use for their own wallets?

because this: http://www.calf.co.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=22

looks very very similar to the IH bifold and is quite a bit cheaper...

what's the general idea about CALF?

oh yeah, doesn't FH produce their leather products in house?

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^ Not really, sure about the difference in the price.

TBH I can't remember the Japanese retail for an IH cattlehide wallet.

The leather is all the same calf/veal leather.

The IH make has goat tendon as threading, not sure about the CALF one.

I guess IH does have to make a cut out of the profit :P

I love CALF's design, and would own a few pieces already if they used steer-hide instead of calf-hide (personal moral issue).

Although their red-cordovan-inset wallet looks mighty tasty!

Not sure if TFH produces their leathers in-house.

I guess we'd have to define what "in-house" actually means?

Kiya's probably the best person to ask around here.

Although I have to say established/experienced craftsmen nearly always have their own brand or are part of a workshop...I couldn't see an old master-artisan working for salary for one of the brands.

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