<<< Anyone into leather? >>>

[brandrea]

Evening folks! I thought I'd share an incoming of a different sort.

I've always been interested in owning a high quality leather jacket. I know its not for everyone and we can debate the ethics of using animals for clothing when there are other options ... let's leave that out of this thread please.

After quite a bit of research I discovered there are mainly three top tier, bespoke, leather jacket makers who ply their craft using old world techniques. One is located in Japan, the other in the USA and the last one is right here in my backyard in Toronto!

If you're into very high quality horse hide leather, you really owe it to yourself to consider a jacket from Himel Bros. I decided on a classic as this is probably the only nice jacket I'll ever buy in this price range ... and my wife already thinks I'm nuts... sound familiar?

What a treat this is. The "Imperial" is shinki horse hide which David sources direct from the craft tannery in Hikaku Japan. This leather is truly a work of art. You can read up on it at:

www.himelbros.com

Its tough to describe the smoothness and fine grain, the subtle sheen and the feel ... wow. The stitching is unreal, fine single stitched seams with 9 or 10 threads per inch. The lining is a super cool period correct camo maple leaf lining. David is a true artisan and craftsmen. He really puts alot into these jackets and it shows. I believe he stated that each jacket uses approx one complete hide and takes up to 18 hours to cut and stitch. These are heirlooms to be passed on and his motto: "everybody deserves one good thing" resonates with me.

I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with the man himself and we chatted for 3-4 hours about everthing from his beginnings with vintage clothing, and how he got into his bespoke leather goods business. We also chatted about a whole bunch of other topics some of which are forbidden here Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting David. The whole experience was truly amazing and I would highly recommend him to anyone who wants the introduction.

Anyway I just thought I'd share. Hope you like the pics







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