Connor Rademaker

Artist & Craftsman

Hand crafting elegant, durable, leather goods for the modern professional since 2010.

Keeping alive the proud American tradition of leathercraft with modern takes on classic designs and motifs.

Click the "Visit Shop Button" to see my current inventory, or continue scrolling

to learn more about the process that makes these pieces truly special.

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The Process

Hand-made for unrivaled beauty and durability.

The Finest Materials

I work exclusively with vegetable tanned leather from the Hermann Oak Leather Company.

In continuous operation since 1881, they are the oldest tannery in America, and the only people I trust to deliver consistent leather of uncompromising quality.

Vegetable tanning is history's longest standing process for turning animal hides into usable leather.

Using extracts from oak bark and other plants, it creates a tough, hardwearing product with many unique properties.

Always Cut by Hand

Mass manufactured leather goods are cut, not with a knife, but with a hydraulic press and die.

While I cannot compete with the speed of this cookie-cutter approach, it is inflexible.

Working by hand allows me to make small adjustments to my designs over time, continuously iterating and refining as each piece and each new customer teaches me something new.

Hand Tooling & Engraving

This decorative process is a part of what makes vegetable tanned leather so unique.

When wet, this leather can be shaped, stamped, and carved into beautiful, permanent low-relief.

An endless variety of patterns can be created, from a simple, tasteful border, to a fully rendered image.

Names and dates can commemorated, carved deeply and irrevocably into the surface.

Individually Dyed and Finished

Each piece of leather goes through a long, multi-step process between the raw and finished material.

Accounting for the long drying times between each step, any item, no matter how small, will require multiple days to bring from start to finish.

These steps include adding oils for flexibility and longevity, several coats of dye, and a thin protective clear finish to protect the material below.

Assembly & Stitching

I offer both hand stitched and machine stitched versions of most of my goods.

Hand stitching provides an unparalleled degree of durability, beauty, and refinement.

Machine stitching make these goods much more accessible to a wider audience and while it is a small compromise of aesthetics, this method is suitably strong for the light duty sort of goods that I tend to make.

Further information is available on the individual pages of all stitched goods.

All metal hardware like rivets and buckles are solid brass or stainless steel all the way through. This is opposed to plated hardware. Plated hardware is made with thin layer of brass or chrome which will quickly wear away to reveal the cheaper nickel underneath.

Polished Edges

The final touch, and one often skipped by lesser craftsmen looking to save a little time where it might go unnoticed.

When freshly cut, the edges of each piece of leather are square and rough.

Each edge is sanded to be round, flush and smooth, then carefully brush dyed, and when fully prepared, polished to a glossy finish with beeswax.

This is often imitated with thick edge paints which at first look even more impressive, but edge paint lasts just long enough to sell, soon beginning to chip away with use.