We are AK Leather co. 

If you pull back the curtain, we are really just 3 people who work very hard and never gave up. One day soon we’ll probably be a small army of 10 or more. But for now, you can know us all on a first name basis: Nevaeh, Lauren, and Ivan.  

When you buy AK Leather co., you’re supporting a commitment to quality, you get the assurance of a lifetime warranty, and you take part in the story of a truly unique Alaskan brand. 

We source all our leathers from within the US, use only brass hardware on all our pieces, and our workshop motto is this: We don’t make shitty things. All jokes aside, this mantra actually helps guide a lot of decisions. One common example is, “Is the grain on that piece of leather good enough? Well.. we don’t make shitty things, so no, go cut a better piece for that bag’s structural gusset.” 

We’re very proud to be an American made brand, and also an Alaskan made brand. Doing business anywhere presents its own challenges, but having operated in other both foreign and domestic markets, Alaska is particularly challenging in the areas of consistent sales for planned growth, and predictable timetables for delivery of materials, machinery, and all the other goods and services necessary for operating both a retail store and a production house.

Nevertheless, there is a raw beauty and inherent difficulty about Alaska that makes the process evermore worthwhile to undertake. 

The spring of 2023 marked 10 years for our leatherwork journey. What started as an interest in ostrich leather wallets in Cape Town, South Africa led to production of the first brand of wallets, Volstruis. That branched out into bags, and then producing simple tote bags stateside, pop up sales events, then producing wallets stateside, and then adding another product, and other, and another, coming home and moving all production to Alaska, a rebrand to AK Leather co., a jump into retail, branded clothing.. 

Ten years can go by surprisingly fast. But the journey honed the skills and taught the discipline needed to progress in this industry.

In exotic leather goods, there is infinitely more time, care, and skill applied to each product. This is partially because these products command a higher price tag, but also because the material is much less uniform and much less forgiving. By learning the world of exotic leathers and craftsmanship first, we bring a different approach to products than most American made brands. This led to our style being dubbed, “Raw Refined”, which we like very much.