The Local Leather Forecast is Cool
Yesterday a friend let me tag along to the launch party of Dulkinys Davis, a new fashion brand and collaboration between two friends who live in the Bay Area and Berlin.
Their line is, per their website: “Artisanal Tech Leather Products. A collection of basics centered around leather, blending traditional and innovative techniques to create modern shapes and cuts of exceptionally high-quality, handmade products…Objects, accessories and garments that are useful, usable and compelling. With leather as the central theme, collections will evolve organically and be design-driven rather than fashion-dictated or seasonal.”
As many of you know, I love leather. For my forty-ninth birthday, I gifted myself a pair of buttery-soft Helmut Lang leather leggings that I swear-to-God I’ll wear when I’m raising hell on my Hoveround at a Bingo Hall near you. My “meeting” blazer is a whisper-thin leather Rick Owens number that I bought 12 years ago that warns “do not tangle with me.” Seriously, just don’t.
But leather is challenging. In the wrong hands, it screams slutty, cheesy, costumy or all of the above. In the right hands it suggests chic, edgy and comfortable, which is what Dulkinys Davis nails.
Susanna Dulkinys is a renowned graphic designer who was creative director of Wired books and built Goodby Silverstein & Partners’ interactive/web creative department, to name a few of her many accomplishments. It also turns out she has practiced yoga next to me at the Bay Club, which speaks to her survival technique as I have been known to mutter “fuck” at inappropriate times.
Martha Davis has had her own line of high-end shoes, Martha Davis of which I own four pairs. My first purchase, slate-grey open-toe booties, I scored from Metier on my way to a Giant’s game. I wore them to my 30th high-school reunion; they will always hold a special place in my fashion heart.
To meet women who care so much about making beautiful things, to “bring manufacturing back to America and create jobs and joy” is refreshing. If it weren’t for the Dulkinys Davis’s of the world, bravely starting their own companies to bring us interesting, original and well-made products, we would be stuck with H&M, Walmart and the army of other fast-fashion chains, mass-producing crap that pollutes our closets and the environment.
Very soon, you will be able to find these leather labors of love at a local independent retailer near you. In the meantime, you can find their line here on dulkinysdavis.com.
Hooray! I, too, am a fan of Martha Davis’ lovely footwear, the proud owner of two new pairs! Congrats to Martha and Susanna on the launch of their line!
Well, you do have fantastic taste, so I’m not surprised you have her shoes and are a fan. Hope to see you soon. xoxo