"I began working with leather in an Alaskan logging camp, making tool pouches from discarded boots," says Lincoln Heller, designer for Fiveleft, a company that combines his eclectic interests in graphic image-making, leathercraft, and photography.
Reflecting his minimalist approach to construction, bags are made without any glue, lining, or synthetic replacements, only basic materials such as leather, wood, hardware, and thread. "I design every piece to showcase what I think are the beautiful, unique, sculptural, and textural properties of leather, using as little 'chemistry' as possible," Heller says. The results boast clean lines that are timeless yet captivating, suitable for all occasions, and each tell a different story.
Fiveleft's creations are all "containers" of some sort, whether to hold books, coins, or whatever trinkets went into the medieval-style pouches he created for the film Eragon. Working only with vegetable-tanned leather–meaning it is cured with a tree-bark "soup" rather than the more common chromium bath–he then dyes the skins and imprints them for texture, using found objects such as bicycle spokes and antique elevator components–even an old comb.
So far, most of Fiveleft's bags have been created on a one-off custom basis, but Heller is in the process of releasing his first line of men's and women's bags ($250 to $450), coin purses ($30), and wallets ($45 to $60). Even when they're produced in greater quantities, each bag will adhere to Heller's philosophy of creating pieces that are "functional, with a strong visual presence".
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