I am a designer specializing in custom-made leather clothing for both Men and Women.

This is a project I recently completed.

What I do is the exact opposite of today’s mainstream fashion. It is a very labor and time intensive process. It’s “Slow Fashion”, created with one person in mind, made to fit them perfectly, and meant to last.

I firmly believe a gorgeous leather jacket should be a much more personal choice than being limited to whatever this season’s trends have dictated.

And I wanted to show a little bit of what goes into the creation of a hand-made garment.

When I come up with a design, usually making and fitting the pattern is the most time consuming part of the process.

But not in this case.

Since other patterns had been developed for the client, a lot of time was saved there. I spent about 15 hours on the design & pattern making.

Creating the appliqué pattern, cutting, prepping all the pieces for the jacket, and the construction overall took about 80 hours. Everything is done by hand. No CAD, no laser cutting, no automated processes at all.

(As old school as it may be, I love working this way!)

One of my customers said to me “The thing about hand-made and custom-made, there are only a finite number of pieces possible. There’s no comparison shopping, no price checking, no waiting a month to see if it goes on sale. There it is – it is crafted by hand, by someone who cares passionately about every stitch, every little detail. From the way it fits to how it feels. It wasn’t mass produced by robots in slave conditions. There’s only one- it’s yours or it isn’t.”

That sums up what I believe in perfectly…

Enjoy!

More info: carladawnbehrlenyc.com

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

The back of the finished Jacket

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

beginning the placement of the appliqué

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Appliqué work in progress. I love doing this type of work, creating patterns that work integrally with the garment itself.

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Center back seam gets hidden…

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Sleeves constructed

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Main appliqué finished

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Checking out the overall effect

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Detailing, the half belt can be worn to the front or back & ready to attach the sleeves.

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

I like to design my appliqués organically, the mask motif is a happy by product of that.

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

Tree of Life Leather Jacket

It’s a modified longline café racer style with a peplum.

Games

View all games

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!