Our search for unique leather products hits close to home this week. While visiting my home town over Christmas, I heard of a great story involving unique custom made leather purses, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to learn more about them.
A Little Backstory
These purses are all made in little ol’ Riverton WY, a town with around 10,000 people in it. For Wyoming, this makes it the largest settlement within 120 miles in any direction.
This was the first Custom Purse made by Rhonda
The purses first started being made many years ago in a little shop called Western Supply. They were made by a good friend of the owner who would come in to the store and work on them on her days off.
Sadly, several years ago, the original maker passed away in a tragic accident, so her dear friend, and the owner of Western Supply, Rhonda Slack, took over the legacy. She made the first purse, pictured above, as a Christmas present, but as people saw the unique style and beautiful craftsmanship ,and heard the heartwarming story, she started getting orders for more. I was lucky enough to get a few minutes of her valuable time to talk to her about how the purses have changed over the years, and why they are so important for her today.
In The Beginning…
The purses started out much like the ones you see in the picture above, and without a lot of variation. Sure the color and patterns may have changed a little, but the general design was fairly identical.
But Now…
Rhonda has expanded by experimenting with all kinds of new shapes, styles, designs, and materials. From Native American beading sourced from the local reservation to woolly buffalo leather, each purse now has its own unique style and personality.
Personality?
That’s right, personality. These purses are all custom made, so they are designed to carry a little bit of your personality and story in them. In Rhonda’s words:
“When I find out who I’m making a purse for, I contemplate it a lot to try and put their personalities into the final product.”
And that isn’t just for people she knows personally. When you order a purse online, she’ll contact you to make sure she gets a feel for what you are looking for and who you are. She wants the purse to be an extension of yourself.
Her Feelings
For Rhonda, the purses provide a much needed creative outlet, while also paying tribute to her late friend. It’s my personal belief that everyone has the inherent desire to create something of value and beauty, and it seems that Rhonda echoes that sentiment as she commented:
“[Making the purses] lets me be creative, and step outside the box. Each one is a little different, and I like that about them.”
In my conversation with her, it seemed that it was therapeutic for her. It makes the whole situation quite the win-win deal. The customer gets a one of a kind product with a unique story that is built to fit them, and Rhonda gets to do something that she loves to do!
This is so awesome. I am a true sucker for a good story and definitely for purses. I can’t wait to order a custom purse for myself and my daughter. We’ll be the talk of the town. Thanks for sharing
That is the beauty of crafting, you can do each item completely unique. The purchaser will know is not another one like it in the world which is really awesome.
i know I have once too many gone out somewhere and seen someone wearing the exact same dress, not so cool!
i love these custom made leather purses. what a great buy.
these are really cool. I went to big rock city in GA USA and there was a leathercrafter selling his wares there.
his pieces were so fine and he had everything. my wife ended up getting a purse it was really cool. kind of like a backpack and it was engraved with horses. she still has it but she keeps it safe as she doesn’t want to wear it out.
Do you find it easy to repair these handed crafted items?
If you have the skills, it is pretty doable. Even if you don’t, a lot of the manufacturers are willing to. This one in particular I’m sure would be willing to fix a broken strap or patch something and send it back to you. Customer service is very important to her. But since this is made out of high quality leather(as is everything on the site), it will last an incredibly long time, usually several decades.
I really like where these purses started and where they are going. Obviously, Rhonda is very customer focused as she commits to calling her customers to get a feel of exactly what they are about before moving the order forward.
The leatherwork is very nice and opens up great possibilities for the owner.
I hope this company goes far with their business and I thank you for the post revealing such a great company.
This is so awesome. I am a true sucker for a good story and definitely for purses. I can’t wait to order a custom purse for myself and my daughter. We’ll be the talk of the town. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for taking the time to comment Kierra. They really an quite incredible, and they sure do draw a lot of attention and compliments!
That is the beauty of crafting, you can do each item completely unique. The purchaser will know is not another one like it in the world which is really awesome.
i know I have once too many gone out somewhere and seen someone wearing the exact same dress, not so cool!
i love these custom made leather purses. what a great buy.
these are really cool. I went to big rock city in GA USA and there was a leathercrafter selling his wares there.
his pieces were so fine and he had everything. my wife ended up getting a purse it was really cool. kind of like a backpack and it was engraved with horses. she still has it but she keeps it safe as she doesn’t want to wear it out.
Do you find it easy to repair these handed crafted items?
If you have the skills, it is pretty doable. Even if you don’t, a lot of the manufacturers are willing to. This one in particular I’m sure would be willing to fix a broken strap or patch something and send it back to you. Customer service is very important to her. But since this is made out of high quality leather(as is everything on the site), it will last an incredibly long time, usually several decades.
I really like where these purses started and where they are going. Obviously, Rhonda is very customer focused as she commits to calling her customers to get a feel of exactly what they are about before moving the order forward.
The leatherwork is very nice and opens up great possibilities for the owner.
I hope this company goes far with their business and I thank you for the post revealing such a great company.