We all know and appreciate the process of wearing in and using denim. It’s one of the most exciting and interesting aspects of denim whether it’s for the nerdy technical details or mere the look and feel. Therefore, earlier this year we had a competition where you, our dear readers, could send us pictures of your worn-in denim and win a brand new pair of jeans from Meadow and last month we launched the Levi’s Vintage Clothing Wear & Tear Project with five different participants. Now, if you’re into following the process of aging denim and you love to see the character develop through tough wear and lots of love you might also be into leather goods – if not, you better start now!
Leather has been used for an enormous amount of different things for millennia and has proven its position as one of the most durable and intriguing materials throughout the times and in different cultures.
Since it’s Han Kjøbenhavn month here at Denimhunters, what would be more appropriate than to put light on an extremely well crafted line of leather goods that Han present in their flagship store in Copenhagen?
When Han opened the store they also took in a couple of international brands just to put in a stint of diversity. One of these two brands was Kenton Sorenson from the USA. The company is made up of just one guy – you guessed it, Kenton S. himself. He has been making vegetable tanned leather goods for more than 25 years now. Everything is hand made of the finest qualities. And when I say finest qualities, I mean it. The leather hide used is of a type that comprises only 1% of all available hides. This exquisite leather goes through a careful tanning process that gives the leather its recognizable light look. Because of this tanning process the leather is going to age like fine wine and Jennifer Aniston – with huge amounts of grace.
I’m not going to trouble you with bunches of technical stuff so you should pay the Han store a visit to see for yourself or drop by Kenton Sorenson’s own website and read about his story, the materials, the working process and especially notice the picture of his 25-year old pouch that he’s been using for his shaving instruments (Mr. Sorenson is a trained barber). “Authenticity and simplicity are timeless”, it says on the website and we can only give our consent – these leather goods are bound to stand the test of time looking good in the meanwhile.
These are some selected items from the Han store. There’s a much larger selection so consider this as an appetizer.
One of my favorite items – for the iPad, your important documents, the notes nobody can read. You decide.
These last pictures are of my pouch – I use it for my tobacco and I’ve had it for 3 months now. The beautiful thing about it is that the aging of the leather depends on how you use it – is it exposed to sunlight, do you have it in your backpocket, do you have it in your bag, has been it with you in the rain? It can’t get more personal.
Words by Johannes J.
