We were lucky to catch up with Dustin Lyons recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dustin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

In 2008, on my way back up to Alaska for a seasonal restaurant gig I stopped off at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was there that I first spotted and became enamored with the style of footwear I now build. A couple years later I found just the right teacher, Bill Shanor of Bonney & Will’s School of Shoemaking in Ashland, OR (he and his wife, Julie are now mostly retired). I’d never used a sewing machine before, but after a week-long course in “unlasted” footwear I took the full leap, scraping up enough money to acquire an industrial sewing machine, an array of handtools and all the materials I would need to make a go of it. Prior to taking the class I had also moved to Ashland, to be close to Bill and his expert instruction. It took a solid year of practice, experimentation, and building shoes for friends and family for me to muster confidence enough to start taking orders. Once I did, things began moving quickly. By year two, Alkahest Leather was in full swing, travelling to art fairs and various festivals. Looking back, I can see how critical my immediate dedication to the craft was. Forwards and back, and with an almost obsessive precision, I learned the recipe Bill gave me. Over the course of these past 13 years, I’ve tweaked some things and built upon others, adding to the folk tradition of this particular style of footwear.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Dustin Lyons. I am a shoemaker/leatherworker living in Joseph, Oregon. I have a small cabin and workshop on two uncombed acres at the foot of Chief Joseph Mountain. Established in 2011, Alkahest Leather is a homespun one-man show specializing in custom-made leather footwear, hip & shoulder bags, and other accessories. Primarily a Pacific NW business, I travel to art fairs and various festivals throughout the region. Using full hides of bull, cow, and bison I build my products with a sewing machine and an array of hand-tools, incorporating antler, semi-precious stones, and various types of hardware. The footwear I build is entirely customized starting with a tape-casting of the customer’s foot. You choose your colors, buttons, soles, etc. As opposed to conventional, “lasted” footwear, which constrains the foot in a generic cavity, Alkahest footwear fits more like a second skin, like a moccasin–molding to the feet and allowing them to move and behave as they are meant to. You can do just about anything in these shoes. I can make you a pair appropriate for a dentist appointment, a hike up a mountain, or an “end-of-the-world” party! They can be re-soled, and with proper care they’ll keep your feet happy and head-turning for years to come. I have an ever-expanding stock of designs that tend toward images of the natural world. As well, I am always open to a custom design on a bag or a pair of boots. The over-arching spirit of my business is one that values quality, personal connection and collaborative creation. I make every effort to get it right–functional, durable, fashionable. It is my contention that life is lived most freely and brightly when one’s needs are simple and modest: coherent spaces, good friends, well-built, accommodating shoes.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There’s tedium in anything you do long enough. This is all the more obvious and likely to become soul-crushing when you’re alienated from the product of your labors, when the interaction with customers is impersonal, and when the work itself requires little to no imagination. I am incredibly thankful that I stumbled upon shoemaking/leatherworking, that I found it inspiring, and that I took the somewhat whimsical and off-beat leap into turning it into a viable livelihood. I think it has been central to my making this thing work that it jibes well with my seat-of-the-pants lifestyle and with my principles and values. There’s a very satisfying, community-rooted intimacy in the process of placing a shoe order with me. I handle each pair of feet during the tape-casting process, further acquainting myself with the customer in conversation about the various options they get to choose from. Because my waitlist is typically 4 to 10 months out I don’t always get the opportunity to see the shoes on the feet they were made for, but I often do, and I can’t overstate how rewarding that experience is.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Alkahest Leather was founded and built in 2011 by myself and my long-time partner, Tera Ptacek. In 2021, that relationship dissolved. The personal distress aside, it was a potent shake-up for the business, further challenged by the cultural and economic tribulations caused by Covid. To keep Alkahest Leather afloat I had to rethink and streamline several aspects of its trajectory and operation. I have both trimmed down the number of product lines and the number of shows the business was previously engaged in. I am happy to report that this narrowing of focus has thus far kept my business thriving. I may be working longer hours but in many respects the work is more satisfying.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alkahestleather.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/alkahestleather
• Facebook: facebook.com/alkahestleather

Image Credits
All photos taken by Dustin Lyons