Individually crafted and produced.
The Dynamic & The Practical.
Born in Bristol, Connecticut, Randall Herold attended Hartwick College in 1971. While at Hartwick College, located in Oneonta, NY, Randall participated in an independent student program in anthropology. He traveled to Israel and Egypt, and upon returning to the U.S. developed an interest with American Indian culture. He stayed on the Navajo Community College in Chinle in northern Arizona for a year. This is where his love of leatherwork was born. Randall currently lives in Oneonta, NY.
In this signature series, Randall boldly integrates contemporary fashion – the sleek and polished – with primordial impulse – the dynamic and practical. Every handbag is individually crafted and produced by the artist himself, and consists of as many as 150 hand-cut pieces and findings that require multiple forming and stitching processes. Every cut, every stitch is faithful to balance – whether symmetrical or asymmetrical – and Old World craftsmanship. It is by this attitude to the highest quality materials, to his tools, and in his understanding of the needs his products serve that we recognize the essential artisan in Randall Herold.
“Without a doubt, leather-working in the United States is a dying art — the saddle maker and the boot and shoemaker are gone. I’m not the oldest at what I do. I have colleagues that have done it for 45 years, and I’ve only done it for 35 years, which makes me the young guy. Among the younger people in Europe, they think leatherwork is cool. I have a friend who lives in Jamaica, and he says his studio is crowded with kids who want to learn sandal making. That’s encouraging. What I see though, is that everyone wants to be a designer, which is different from wanting to be a craftsperson. It’s instantaneous.” - from an interview with Randall Herold in “Sedona Monthly,” 2011
