Instagram is the place where many leather goods makers find inspiring photos of some of the best artists and designers working today. Some people use it like any other social media account, but I like to use Instagram as my own curated feed of leather goods making. Maybe even more important than the finished product photos are the progress photos of people practicing and developing their designs.
Whenever I want to see what some of the top makers are up to, I can rely on my Instagram feed to deliver leatherworking brilliance.
Here are a few highlights of the people that I follow, and why:
Huns Lee – I always find interesting twists and unique takes from his work. It can be whimsical, luxurious, intricate or all of the above.
Niwa Leathers – Pure talent and skill. His work is inspiring and he’s also fairly prolific in his posts. I can (and do) look at his work for days.
Doldokki – Our tool maker from Korea has some fantastic photos of their tools and tool making process.
Heima Leathers – Some of the most finely crafted watch straps I’ve ever seen. It’s such detailed work for such a small scale.
Love Jules – I’ve admired watching these guys grow ever since I discovered their heartfelt post about starting a shoe business. They not only do great work but they’ve also gotten some pretty big-name customers.
Sima Prague – One of the best leather goods makers out there. I love the detail in his work and his beautiful stitching.
Who are the most inspiring people that you follow on Instagram? I’d be interested to hear about both leatherworking and other finely crafted sources of work.
Thanks! Another amazing one who shows his work in progress is Peter Nitz. http://instagram.com/atelierpeternitz
Thanks for the heads-up, Valerie! We’ll be sure to check out his feed!
Lone Wolf Leather of Sweden – http://lonewolfleather.se/ and Norman Cahn Leather Works – https://www.etsy.com/shop/normcahnleatherworks http://www.normancahnleatherworks.com
These leather crafters are excellent in their own way. These are some of the many I follow on Instagram. Regards, Marco
Thanks, Marco! I appreciate the lead.
Thanks for this. Huns Lee’s work is so inspiring, I’ve been searching for someone doing whimsical leatherwork.
Their work is unique, without a doubt! It’s good inspiration for remembering to have fun when doing leatherworking.
Belgian studio NIYONA
http://www.instagram.com/niyona
Awesome! Thank you, Michael.
lanyap_ldn and wilkinsontx always have some amazing work.
We’ll be sure to check them out, JR. Thanks for the heads-up!
Nice blog, good idea given about the leather products on instagram, was very useful, thank you for this blog with us.
Thanks for the encouragement, Arvind!
The Doldokki link and the Pratamaniwre link are broken.
Thanks for letting us know! The links were updated and are working now.
Looked at the photos you’ve posted of Sima Prague and noticed that the briefcase is actually machine stitched. Since you said you admire their stitching, I’ve looked through their profile and saw two vintage treadle singers. It seems once crafters get to a certain level a sewing machine becomes a necessity. Thank you for the post, great work out there!
Yes, there’s definitely a time and place for machine stitching. We do mostly hand-stitching, but are considering introducing more machine stitching for our students who want to experiment with it a bit more. Thanks for taking the time to read through our post, Misha!
@bluebell_straps makes the finest guitar straps in the business, they come from multi-generational Leather Workers . His shop is in Spain and he ships around the world. His work is known by many famous Musicians and Collectors . He does Custom work as well as guitar straps also.
Thanks for the lead, Warren!