5 Questions for Those Who Make

In 25 words or less describe who you are, where you’re located and what you make.

We’re Jules & Josh of Love Jules Leather. We handcraft custom leather shoes from our garage based studio located in the mountains of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

What made you want to be a maker?

Jules: I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. My mom is of Norwegian decent, and they’re known to be hand-skilled types, so maybe it’s in my blood? I was blessed with what some may consider “man hands”, so I figured I should probably put these bad boys to good use. After graduating from art school, I knew I wanted to create for a living. It’s taken me a few years to figure out how I could get my artistic juices out on a daily basis while paying the rent consistently. Cobbling… who knew?

Josh: Jules is the maker, I’m the utility guy. I’m here to help out with every other aspect of the business, so Jules has the time and clarity to do her thing. I like to think I’ve got a pretty okay design eye, but I know I have the ability to make badass spreadsheets. Every “successful” small business needs a badass spreadsheet maker.

Why should people support your business/products?

We started making the kicks we make because we felt like maybe there was a hole in the shoe industry that needed to be filled. It’s pretty hard to come by a custom, leather, casual/ urban shoe, made in North America, using all locally sourced materials, designed & handcrafted from a garage based studio. Badass pistols hand-etched into the tongues? Forget about it.

We make cool kicks for ourselves (selfishly), at a price that we could afford, at a pace that there will never be more than a 100 people in the world with the same pair. If that’s a concept people can buy into then, well… thank you.

Favorite product that you make?

Jules: Right now, our Oiled Maroon & Tan Annie Oakley high tops, with Victorian rose patent leather print details. We found this one-off Victorian rose print hide in New York, and we haven’t been able to track down any more… anywhere! Talk about limited run, I think we’ll probably get a total of 6 shoes off before we’re out, and this makes me very, very sad.

Josh: I’ve got a pair of vegetable tanned cowhide penny loafers, to be discontinued Canadian copper pennies and all. I’ve got the one & only pair, though Jules says we can make to order if anyone is interested. I put up a pretty good fight, but she’s the boss.

List five of your favorite tools.

Jules: My wood burning pen, industrial sewing machine, leather skiver, sew-all, and old timey picture books.

Josh: My Macbook, Nikon D90, Photoshop CS5, coffee… & I too enjoy the wood burning pen.

(photographs from Love Jules Leather)