FRANKS TOTE
Franks Tote came from a question I was asked in school most would see as just an icebreaker and nothing more: What would you be if you weren’t in design or fashion? Although for me this question made me really imagine what id be doing if i went down the other route. I always thought I’d be in science though not the clean, clinical kind. I imagine the mad scientist type. Something closer to Frankenstein. I’ve always been fascinated by what happens when two different things collide and create something unexpected—like birds that clean alligator teeth and not be mauled, or elements that react in strange, beautiful ways like solid sodium and water.
That curiosity is what shaped this piece. I designed the pattern myself, hand-cut every panel, and stitched it entirely by hand. The stone-oiled leather and silver-toned nickel hardware give it structure, but the form itself is an experiment: a tote fused with the spirit of a bucket bag. Two silhouettes, brought together and made into something different.
For me, this bag is a small study in interaction and transformation. A design rooted in curiosity, science, and chaos.
Colsenkeane LeatherWork Experience
During my time as an artisan at Colsenkeane Leather, I had the opportunity to work hands-on crafting leather bags using both traditional hand tools and select machinery. It was more than just making, it was about understanding leather as a unique material and how you must approach design with the understanding of how leather behaves. I learned that each leather has a different personality and they want to work in certain ways, this causes me to have a more refined approach to design as I believe you must deeply understand your material before deciding how to apply it. How it stretches, holds shape, softens, or resists, and how those traits affect every bag, belt, wallet and every other piece.
Working with vegetable-tanned leather improved me patience and precision it’s a leather that starts stiff and pale but develops a rich patina over time. I believe leather is not for the fast fashion in todays world, when using leather you have to think about how it will age in color and structure not just for the next few months but for years to come.
This internship laid the foundation of how I approach leatherwork today, and I thank the skilled leatherworkers and friends at Colsenkeane for educating me.
Final satchel bag I made as a gift for my mother
Privileged to represent ColsenKean Leather at the kiosk in Bank of America Stadium
First hand sewn vegetable tanned leather duffel bag. Many more made after this
After setting the snaps and rivets for the d ring looper, I begin to sew the side panel to the face of a satchel bag.
Tool sheaths, and a variety of wallet types hand sewn
Baldings CLutch
This was the first leatherwork piece I made outside of school or any formal project, a clutch crafted entirely by hand using vegetable-tanned leather, with a soft acrylic yarn detail stitched a playful applique. The inspiration came from a simple but strange thought i had, how animals that give us leather often have soft exteriors, but we turn that softness into something tougher.
Cows, for example, have a smooth, delicate top coat that gets stripped away most of the time, and treated to become durable leather. Meanwhile, something like alligator that is naturally armored is softened during the tanning process to become wearable easier to work with. I liked that contrast. This clutch is a nod to that reversal. A quiet attempt to return a bit of softness to something we’ve made tough. Almost like giving a wig to someone who’s gone bald a small gesture with a strange kind of warmth.
