#atitlanleather

‘Boho never says no to leather’

Theres never a day without leather as a part of my personal way of life. I love leather, the look, smell, touch and feel whether it's a part of furniture, home decoration, accessory, bag or shoes. Basically leather is an essence of my aka Forest Wanderer’s lifestyle which regularly leads me to leather goods hunt both online and at stores. A year ago I came across Atitlan Leather from Guatemala on Etsy and was so attracted to their products. Since then my adoration towards handmade leather grew even stronger. Though I wasn’t able to touch and smell them physically but their quality through photos spoke all the hard work done. 

‘Atitlan Leather’, artisanal leather goods from Guatemala around the 'Lake Atitlan' founded since 2013. Their products are specially produced to accommodate those unique travelers out there, offering durability, practical, and affordable quality to fit perfectly into their lifestyles. Money belts, boots, bags to backpacks you named it! The strong bond between leather and I has influenced and inspired me to create a one day lifestyle styling with Atitlan Leather products. So, there I went on a road trip to the Northern part of Thailand with a bag full of their leather goodies! Woo! Arrived at Thongma Studio, our coffee break stop along the way.

Camera is a part of my life, to have a good strap for your camera is like dressing up with a good taste.

Belts!! 

Knock knock! Never ever leave home without a bag or two, well that’s my personal logic anyway :P

It was so good to be outdoor around the suburban district of Chiang Mai. What a perfect weather and lighting for shooting!

This is one of my favourite bags from Atitlan Leather. It matches really well with denim. You try.

A day passed by so quickly, full of fun and enjoyment having to style up with leather products. Honestly it was pretty easy for me to mix and match them. If you think you have no style or no clues on how to dress up with leathers just put on your simplest outfit, add a bit of leather on, you can definitely pull it off in some ways. Trust me ;)

Don't hesitate, do drop by www.atitlanleather.com for more goodies. Some of there signature items like money belts and wallets do sell pretty fast, so hurry! They are there for you to complete your style!

Credit:

Instagram: @atitlanleather

Website: www.atitlanleather.com

Location: Thongma Studio, Maerim, Chiang Mai

Photographer’s Instagram: @bankpyt

Photographer’s Website: www.bankpyt.com

Contacts:

LINE: lynnalinnali Email: [email protected]

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

The Background:

Leather is rad. It essentially takes the highly evolved hide of an animal, removes anything that might putrify (like any life, proteins or peskily vermin), and leaves behind a collagen structure that is strong yet pliable, and which can be dyed, painted or imprinted with almost any form of craziness.

So if we’re taking a live skin, and essentially Hans Solo Cryovacing it to stop the life in it, that means we need take a few measures to preserve some semblance of this homeostasis. In other words, we can treat it bad, but not too bad. Essentially, you don’t want it returning to life.

There’s kinda 2 schools to leather care: 1. Pick a leather that develops a rich patina, and then let your life story start to show 2. Preserve leather so it forever looks new

We are much more for School number 1, so our tips are going to be about how to keep your leather dead, while letting your history of use bring it to life (dang that was cheesie).

Tip 1 If leather gets too wet: Dry it slowly. Speed drying leather changes its chemical structure, and you end up with stiff crinkle cut chaos. So room temperature with gentle air works better than direct heater time with hair-dryer. And keep it in the shape you want it to end up.

Tip 2 If leather gets too dry: Rub something moist into it. Pick a leather dressing or cream, preferably recommended by the maker. Leathers can have paints, waxes, oils and all sorts of things applied to their surface, so you probably want to pick something similar to how it came. Personally, we mostly use Dubbin for heavier use applications (because our dads did), or a lighter leather cream for wallets.

Tip 3 If leather gets dirty: Just use a damp cloth. You don’t want to be putting any soaps or foreign substances in there.

Tip 4 Leather stretches out, but not back: If you start to overfill a wallet, it will never really return to it’s former taut self. If you stretch a leather bag when wet or very humid, it will move even faster. Just learn to carry the right amount, and this takes care of itself.