Horace Thomas & Shawn Thomas

I’ve been a full time, self-employed leathersmith for thirty-five years and my son has been a part of the business since he was two months old. All the leatherwork you see in this booth is the result of my work and my son Shawn’s work in our own studio. My favorite job is using architectural design methods to bring unique, practical shapes to the all too rectangular world of leather bags. Currently I am having great fun discovering a contemporary process for transferring my original artwork permanently onto leather. Also I’ve made thousands of belts and small leather articles in my life and still am happiest when I am cutting, shaping, dying and finishing a great smelling piece of cowhide into a functional, well crafted object. One of my missions in life is to hold the world’s pants up.