Your wallet should not be a file cabinet.
It should not be an ATM.
While driving, you should not feel the need to remove your wallet for fear of dislocating your hip, or bruising your caboose.
With that in mind, we’d like you to meet Eric Heins. He makes simple leather wallets under the trade name Corter Leather. They’re gorgeous and available now.
Heins is a one-man operation, working out of his bedroom/workshop in Boston. And he’s self-taught.
“I couldn’t afford fancy books at the leather store,” he says. “So I had to reverse engineer Japanese wallets and sift through old Angelfire websites to learn things.” (Ah, the ‘90s.)
Eric operates under a strict set of rules. Each piece is hand-sewn with a traditional saddle stitch and 3- to 6-cord waxed thread — making the products both more durable and repairable.
He hand-stitches each piece himself. All materials are domestically sourced. He uses no electricity.
The result: his leather wares are durable and age uniquely to each user. Plus, thanks to his spartan working conditions, prices are up to 75% less than you’d pay for other handmade billfolds.
Better news: he’s now building a leather workshop in an old VW Vanagon and hitting the road, teaching other folks how to fashion leather goods.
Because working alone can be kind of a drag.
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