a pantheon of leather
notes
The Leather Types of Uphill Designs
On one of my monthly trips to the local leather store when we were still in our 166 square foot fremont workshop a leather I hadn’t seen before caught my eye. The tag on the shelf labeled it “Montana Leather”. I was drawn in, magnetised by the luxurious suppleness of the hides, maybe because Montana holds so many positive memories in my life, or maybe it was the perfect by being imperfect dye-jobs done in perfectly Uphill earthy colors. English tan, sienna brown, and onyx black were the names we came to know them by, and I took one of each home, once again going far above our meager budget. I woke up the next morning at 2 am (can you still call it morning?) buzzing to get to the workshop. I took a midnight walk through Fremont, saying hi to the troll (he’s always hilarious, just chillin under that bridge) and into the back alley of the Saturn building and up the rickety fire-escape stairs to our little, but proud workshop. On our cutting table (bench?) I got to work on our first run of montana leather fanny packs and the rest was, well, all the rest. Our montana fanny packs drove our sales for months to come. I am obsessive over every type of leather we use, each one has a unique personality and each finds its place amongst the leather pantheon at Uphill.
The Leather Types of Uphill Designs
On one of my monthly trips to the local leather store when we were still in our 166 square foot fremont workshop a leather I hadn’t seen before caught my eye. The tag on the shelf labeled it “Montana Leather”. I was drawn in, magnetised by the luxurious suppleness of the hides, maybe because Montana holds so many positive memories in my life, or maybe it was the perfect by being imperfect dye-jobs done in perfectly Uphill earthy colors. English tan, sienna brown, and onyx black were the names we came to know them by, and I took one of each home, once again going far above our meager budget. I woke up the next morning at 2 am (can you still call it morning?) buzzing to get to the workshop. I took a midnight walk through Fremont, saying hi to the troll (he’s always hilarious, just chillin under that bridge) and into the back alley of the Saturn building and up the rickety fire-escape stairs to our little, but proud workshop. On our cutting table (bench?) I got to work on our first run of montana leather fanny packs and the rest was, well, all the rest. Our montana fanny packs drove our sales for months to come. I am obsessive over every type of leather we use, each one has a unique personality and each finds its place amongst the leather pantheon at Uphill.
Montana Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Soft, smooth, luxurious, retaining some rigidity
Used in our designs meant to be handled: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Kodiak Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Delicious melting Butter in leather form is how I would describe Kodiak.
Used in our luxury and travel designs: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: ‘push-up’ color change - this is a quality that when pressed from the back (flesh side), the top color of the leather changed, pebbled, loves to be scratched, Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Utility Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide
Tough, smooth, undyed, cowhide
Used in our structural designs: chinle belts, acadia bike tools, emory key saver (retired), and sol headphone wrap (retired)
Characteristics: an almost wooden stiffness to begin (which softens beautiful over time, while maintainging structure), hand-dying.
Stone Oil Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Used in our adventure designs meant to be taken on : our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Montana Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Soft, smooth, luxurious, retaining some rigidity
Used in our designs meant to be handled: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Kodiak Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Delicious melting Butter in leather form is how I would describe Kodiak.
Used in our luxury and travel designs: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: ‘push-up’ color change - this is a quality that when pressed from the back (flesh side), the top color of the leather changed, pebbled, loves to be scratched, Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Utility Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide
Tough, smooth, undyed, cowhide
Used in our structural designs: chinle belts, acadia bike tools, emory key saver (retired), and sol headphone wrap (retired)
Characteristics: an almost wooden stiffness to begin (which softens beautiful over time, while maintainging structure), hand-dying.
Stone Oil Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Used in our adventure designs meant to be taken on : our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
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a pantheon of leather
notes
The Leather Types of Uphill Designs
On one of my monthly trips to the local leather store when we were still in our 166 square foot fremont workshop a leather I hadn’t seen before caught my eye. The tag on the shelf labeled it “Montana Leather”. I was drawn in, magnetised by the luxurious suppleness of the hides, maybe because Montana holds so many positive memories in my life, or maybe it was the perfect by being imperfect dye-jobs done in perfectly Uphill earthy colors. English tan, sienna brown, and onyx black were the names we came to know them by, and I took one of each home, once again going far above our meager budget. I woke up the next morning at 2 am (can you still call it morning?) buzzing to get to the workshop. I took a midnight walk through Fremont, saying hi to the troll (he’s always hilarious, just chillin under that bridge) and into the back alley of the Saturn building and up the rickety fire-escape stairs to our little, but proud workshop. On our cutting table (bench?) I got to work on our first run of montana leather fanny packs and the rest was, well, all the rest. Our montana fanny packs drove our sales for months to come. I am obsessive over every type of leather we use, each one has a unique personality and each finds its place amongst the leather pantheon at Uphill.
Montana Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Soft, smooth, luxurious, retaining some rigidity
Used in our designs meant to be handled: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Kodiak Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Delicious melting Butter in leather form is how I would describe Kodiak.
Used in our luxury and travel designs: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: ‘push-up’ color change - this is a quality that when pressed from the back (flesh side), the top color of the leather changed, pebbled, loves to be scratched, Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Utility Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide
Tough, smooth, undyed, cowhide
Used in our structural designs: chinle belts, acadia bike tools, emory key saver (retired), and sol headphone wrap (retired)
Characteristics: an almost wooden stiffness to begin (which softens beautiful over time, while maintainging structure), hand-dying.
Stone Oil Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Used in our adventure designs meant to be taken on : our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Montana Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Soft, smooth, luxurious, retaining some rigidity
Used in our designs meant to be handled: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Kodiak Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Delicious melting Butter in leather form is how I would describe Kodiak.
Used in our luxury and travel designs: our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: ‘push-up’ color change - this is a quality that when pressed from the back (flesh side), the top color of the leather changed, pebbled, loves to be scratched, Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather
Utility Leather
Veg-tan full grain cowhide
Tough, smooth, undyed, cowhide
Used in our structural designs: chinle belts, acadia bike tools, emory key saver (retired), and sol headphone wrap (retired)
Characteristics: an almost wooden stiffness to begin (which softens beautiful over time, while maintainging structure), hand-dying.
Stone Oil Leather
Chrome-tan full grain cowhide, vat dyed
Used in our adventure designs meant to be taken on : our mist and sentinal wallets, the mesa passport holder, mosaic design portfolio
Characteristics: Patina’s with time, absorbs oil, absorbs water faster than chrome-tan leather