Our American-made leather goods are handcrafted from premium Horween leather by experts at the Missouri-based Eric Scott company. Their skilled craftspeople have decades of experience working with leather, and whenever possible prefer to get it done the old-fashioned way—by hand, which is evident in the hand-sewn whipstitched card pockets inside our Rolltop Backpack and Classic Tote (among other items). Given their exceptional quality standards, there’s no other company in the world we’d rather partner with to produce our leather goods.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Carol Z., a sewing technician who has been with Eric Scott for over 22 years.
So, where are you from?
I was born and raised in Ste. Genevieve, MO, and have lived here all my life.
What activities do you enjoy doing in your hometown?
I just love going to see musicals at the high school, which has a very pretty auditorium with good seating. I also like to eat at Cereals, for the best food in town. And I get all my shopping done at Country Mart.
What’s your specialty, and how’d you get started with it?
My specialty is stitching. And as for how I got started? Let’s see. Well we have to go all the way back to when I was nine years old and started 4H. My mom taught us then. I just took to it and have done it ever since. I even go home after work and stitch for other people.
What would you say your favorite part of the work is?
Learning new designs and techniques—how they’re put together. It’s kind of amazing how some of them are put together. And how the finished product looks. I’m continually learning new things—new designs and new techniques. Which is great, because I like to feel like I’m useful and meaningful to the factory, as opposed to just being some person here.
Well, those are all the questions I have for you. Anything else you want to add?
Just that I think the Shinola leather goods are very impressive, and I like to do my best to be sure it looks nice and perfect for the people who are lucky enough to get one.