La Rue Custom Leather

It just wouldn’t do to pair this beautiful pewter buckle from the @officialwaylon merch store with any old plain strap. So I made this one-of-a-kind hand-tooled belt with Spanish-style edge lacing as an homage to Waylon Jennings’s own iconic Fender Telecaster. Swipe thru ➡️➡️ to see details, and the inspiration behind it! #leather #leathergoods #leathercraft #larueleather #guitar #waylon #waylonjennings #fender #fenderguitars #outlawcountry #customleather #craftsmanship #areyousurehankdoneitthisway

🤖One-of-a-kind RX-78-2 Gundam Wallet!🤖 This one was a chance to level up on some skills I’ve been wanting to hone, and I’m pretty stoked with how it turned out! 100% carved, tooled, sewn and painted by hand, by me. (Btw, I’m LOVING the @alpha6paint I scored from @dad.hands recently! 🙏🎨 #leather #leathercraft #leathergoods #larueleather #leathertooling #handcrafted #wallet #gundam #gunpla #mobilesuitgundam #gundamrx78 #🤖#ガンダムシリーズ

Hey, everyone. I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Eldon Asp, and I am the maker behind La Rue Custom Leather. I first learned leathercraft as a child in my dad’s saddle shop in northern British Columbia. When I moved to Los Angeles for college, I picked up the tools again, first as a hobby and then as a business creating custom pieces for friends, costume designers, fashion boutiques and a few celebrities. Now I’m back in BC and producing wallets, belts, key holders and other functional goods along with custom creations and occasional art pieces.

My work is heavily influenced by the hardwearing horse tack I grew up seeing my dad make and use, translated into functional goods for everyday urban utility. In my designs, I aim for a balance of rugged and refined, to bring a bit of the spirit of the ranch to the street. I make everything by hand using traditional tools and techniques, and the finest vegtanned leathers sustainably produced by North America’s oldest tanneries.

I haven’t been as active around here as I’d like to be, but I hope to get back the bench a lot more in the coming weeks. I have some new projects in the pipeline, and I will for sure be using my skills again to make what positive impact I can for some important causes, indigenous and otherwise.

Thanks to everyone who’s joined me on this journey so far, and I’d like to extend a special thank you to the fellow makers who have been so generous with their time, knowledge and support—not just for me, but more importantly for folks in need all around the world.