Sourcing Spotlight: North Star Leather
America is composed of some of the greatest, most passionate, businesses and workers you will find anywhere in the world. A tremendous amount of skill, artistry, and dedication go into every material we use in the products we make. Much like in everything else, we are stronger in a team. That is why, we here at Overtime Clothing, wanted to create a spotlight for the amazing people and businesses we work with that provide the high-quality materials we use in our products. While often these businesses are behind the scenes heroes, we want to make sure they get the recognition they rightfully deserve. While there may be some names you recognize and some you may have the pleasure of learning, Overtime Clothing is proud to post our bulletin - Sourcing Spotlight!
For this Sourcing Spotlight I had the pleasure to talk more with Michael Batson from North Star Leather, an icon in the leather working space who has a tremendous amount of knowledge to share with the world and a wonderful person to work with.
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What is your name and can you tell us more about yourself and your business?
North Star Leather - we do all sorts of small leather accessories in the USA. We do retail, private label, as well as cut components for other manufactures and industries.
How did you get started in this industry?
My dad started selling leather goods he made himself in the streets of Boston, Massachusetts in 1969. In the late 70's he moved to rural South Carolina to develop the business and raise a family. In 2004 his son, Mike took on a bigger role in the business, developing our website and working on new projects. Making a focus on leather sourced from well known tanneries, especially those related to quality footwear like S.B. Foot Tanning Co. (Red Wing) and Horween. We're still a small business with about ten employees, four of us are family (Steve, Mike, his Wife - Paola and her Mom - Myriam).
How are you involved with the Overtime Clothing project?
At the moment we make the leather patches for their initial project and have done a few special items for a future giveaway, but I know Pops has other projects in the pipeline we'd be happy to work on.
What drives you to do what you do?
I enjoy the hands-on aspect of the job. It feels good to work hard on something and have something tangible in your hands at the end of it all. I feel like it's a privilege these days to actually "make something".
Where can our community find more information?
Our main website is www.nstarleather.com we also have an Instagram (@nstarleather) and Facebook (Facebook - North Star Leather), any of these links will get you to us.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?
We really enjoy what we do and meeting other folks passionate about leather goods made here in the USA and quality leather in general.
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Michael and the North Star Leather team have been amazing to work with, often going above and beyond what they needed to, to make sure you are getting the best possible product. I would like to share my thanks and appreciation to Michael and the team at North Star Leather and encourage you all to go check out what they are doing down in South Carolina!
~Pops