Made in Chicago

Every Arandjela piece is made by hand in Chicago, Illinois, by one person: Nikola Arandjelovic. The leather is full grain and vegetable-tanned in Tuscany. The thread is linen from the north of France. The cutting, the edge work, the saddle stitching, and the final burnish all happen at a single bench in Chicago, and nothing is outsourced.

It is rarer than it sounds. Most leather goods sold as "designer" are assembled in volume, far from the name on the label. Most goods sold as "handmade" are machine-sewn with a hand-finished step somewhere at the end. An Arandjela wallet is cut from the hide with a knife, punched, and sewn with two needles and one thread, the way saddlers have done it for centuries. A NO. 88 takes the better part of an afternoon. A Le Gabriel, petit, with its hand-braided edge, takes longer.

Chicago is not an accident. This city tanned and shaped leather for the whole country long before anyone thought to put a brand on a wallet, and the habit of making things properly never quite left. Arandjel would say a city that built the railroads knows something about what it means for an object to last.

What "made in Chicago" means here

The hide arrives whole from Tuscany. Only the most pristine portions of the hide are used, and each piece is cut from them by hand. Edges are beveled, sanded, and burnished with water and wax until they shine. Stitching is saddle stitch, by hand, with French linen thread, so that if a single stitch ever fails the rest holds. Each finished piece is wrapped in butcher paper, tied with suede lace, and sealed with a seraphim drawn from Byzantine iconography before it leaves.

Where the materials come from

Full grain vegetable-tanned leather, Tuscany, Italy. One hundred percent linen thread, the north of France. Everything else, Chicago. The full account is on the Product Origins page.

Visiting

Arandjela does not keep a storefront. Pieces are made to order and in small numbers, and shipped from Chicago. If you are in the city and want to see the work, or talk about a custom piece, write to info@arandjela.com.

What is made here now

The NO. 88 One Piece Wallet and Le Gabriel, petit are in production. Much more is to come.