Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ida Sorenson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ida , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I realized that I wanted to create for myself, not for someone else. Choosing to make the leather goods I wanted, rather than those I was getting requests for was a gamble. There was no guarantee that I’d make sales off my creations. But that was the artist’s dream and I was coming full circle. I had to trust in myself; that the products I wanted to make were something that would resonate with other people too. This is backwards from all advice, and sane business council, but it was the path I felt compelled (and fortunate enough) to take. Today, Urban Article’s bestsellers are some of the first items I designed myself.

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.
Please provide as much detail as you feel relevant as this is one of the core questions where the reader will get to know about you and your brand/organization/etc
The goal of this new series is to give small business owners and creatives a place to connect with, learn from, and get inspired by their peers.

Seven years ago, I founded Urban Article, fine leather goods, to sell the handcrafted handbags and homegoods I was creating. At first Urban Article was just an Etsy shop, but as it grew, I launched our own website, UrbanArticle.com to sell my leather goods online. At Urban Article, it is really all about the leather. Our pieces are designed to show off the beauty of the material, with sleek, simple designs. We use full grain American leathers that have been vegetable tanned with traditional craft methods. Leather wall pockets and hanging organizers are our best sellers, followed by leather bins, boxes, trivets, placemats, and purses. We make everything ourselves, in Portland, Oregon.
Buying leather is the first step to any leatherworking project, and I quickly discovered that most leathers are produced outside the US, using toxic chemicals like chromium. The manufacture of leather frequently involves child labor, and environmental atrocities. I decided that it was absolutely essential to me that my leather be as safe, and of as high a quality as possible. I would not support the skirting of ethical or environmental laws to save a buck. To justify this cost, I had to make this decision part of my brand identity and educate my customers about the benefits of American made, vegetable tanned leathers. It hasn’t always worked. There are many shoppers who can’t or won’t pay premium prices, but inexpensive leather goods just don’t compare. Recently my designs have been getting copied by other online stores and sold at undercut prices. At first glance, their cheaper products look like a great option, but the leather they use feels flimsy, is prone to crack and peel, and lacks the lovely sheen and smell of traditionally crafted leathers.
I stumbled into leatherworking when I decided to recreate a loved but worn out leather bag that had belonged to my grandma. I’d had some sewing experience making my own clothing, and thought I’d be able to recreate its simple design. I headed to a local leather supply store, where the owner helpfully answered my questions about cutting tools and hardware, picked out some leather, and headed home. As I worked through that first bag project, I realized how many of my disparate skills and interests came together in leatherworking: design, construction, sewing, metalsmithing, fashion, and photography. Recreating my grandma’s purse sparked something in me. I started waking up excited by ideas I had for the next bags I could make, sketching out designs, pulling out my stash of magazine clippings and pinterest pins of leather goods I’d admired over the years, for reference. For the first time in 17 years, I felt enthusiasm for my work, and I started making and documenting the process of leatherworking on Instagram and Facebook. My parents gifted me my first industrial sewing machine, which enabled me to make a wider array of products and begin my online sales.
I established myself as a local go-to for unique, beautiful gifts that were perfect for those hard to shop for family members. At first sales were mostly to friends and family, but good reviews bumped me to higher visibility and I began getting orders from all over the world. Customers were excited to find high quality, handcrafted leather items for their homes and for themselves.
I liked the freedom an online store offered. My schedule could be flexible, I could still be available for my girls when they were out of school, but it was a challenge to represent the leather goods accurately. I work in traditionally crafted leathers, which have a lot of variety from hide to hide, and therefore from piece to piece. When someone shops in person, they can handle and view the pieces, to really feel the weight and see the beautiful diversity of markings, but it’s harder to convey that through a screen. So, my photography skills got a workout. This was another interest I’d had through my teen and early adult years, so it felt good to re-familiarize myself with taking a good photo.
As Urban Article’s sales grew, my products began shifting to homegoods from handbags. I had designed and made some leather wall pockets that were unique, affordable, and made great gifts. There were a lot of leatherworkers making purses and wallets and belts, but not many making home goods, so I found a niche. Then, the pandemic hit, and everyone was stuck at home looking to spruce up their home offices. Urban Article made wall pockets to hold papers and books, records, pens and pencils, phones, gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer. I think customers are drawn to items that have character and beauty, especially if they serve a function. There’s a sense of discovery in finding handcrafted leather goods for oneself or a loved one.
I’d always planned on starting small and then ramping up to a warehouse filled with machinery and employees, being featured in the fashion magazines I’d loved as a kid, but as time went on, my vision and mission changed. I realized that I couldn’t compete with the low cost items being made outside the US if I wished to hold true to my ethics, and that I liked being able to decide what I wanted to make, rather than meeting a particular demand or quota. I’m so grateful for the support that has let me pursue this opportunity.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn, and what’s the backstory?

I’ve had to unlearn the traditional business model trajectory. Most leatherworkers gain some level of success but then end up quitting, because you either have to scale up and out- out of the US for sourcing inexpensive leather and manufacturing, or you have to really dig in, and be able to afford to do something seemingly illogical, which is to make your goods even more unique, more skillfully executed, which is sometimes even more costly. Trusting that leaning into the craft will bring clients, funding, and success isn’t easy. I had to let go of the need to represent myself as a large business and embrace the small scale of what I do instead. Both paths require a leap of faith, discomfort, and risk. I listen to a lot of “How I Built This” podcasts, watch “Chef’s Table” and “Abstract” on Netflix, and read articles about niche craftsman and artists, which buoys me with examples of makers who leaned into their craft, without compromise, and spent their energies working on their creations rather than chasing profitability. In the inspiring cases, business and opportunity found them, rather than them seeking it out.

I’ve also changed my feelings about art vs. craft, and which I identify with. I went to art school, and majored in fine art. At that time, I looked down on craft, thinking it less skillful, less creative. Now, I recognize that some of the most creative ideas and skillful mastery merge in the highest level of craft. I feel more an artist now, making functional leather pieces, than I did as a dreamy, idealistic art student. I set out to have a business, one that made a line of products for sale. There would be creativity in the product design process, but I planned to reign in my array of interests and ideas to churn out consistent and limited leather goods offerings each season. Instead, I discovered that just like in my art education, variation was what really piqued my interest. I had also been following Instagram accounts where other creatives made the pivot from a limited scope; pottery, vintage resale, woodworking, organization, or DIY, to a wider, more authentic array of offerings representing their multiple interests. Suddenly my favorite pottery account was showing metalworking content (one of my fine art focuses), the vintage resale account was showing her beautiful photography of homemaking, cooking, travel, and mothering (all topics I have great interest in). Rather than branding themselves as a woodworking business, or a pottery shop, these creatives were calling themselves artists, and it fit. The name was a functional fit for Instagram’s shifting account requirements, but it was also a name for an identity that allowed the maker to shapeshift, to pick up printmaking or cooking and play with adding it as a brand offering in some way. When I started Urban Article, I’d been embarrassed about people discovering that I was just one person behind the curtain of my online business. It is important to convey competence if you want to get orders, but as my leatherworking and business skill has grown, so has my confidence in pulling back that curtain, being authentic. I’m not afraid anymore (or as afraid) of people seeing me craft beautiful leather pieces on an old desk in what used to be my kids’ bedroom, because what matters to me most now, is my craft, not the building of a business. Ironically, as I made that switch, the business increased.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

To create beautiful, functional pieces, out of high quality materials that have been made without exploiting people or the environment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://UrbanArticle.com
• Instagram: @urban_article
• Other: https://etsy.com/shop/urbanarticle

Image Credits

Ida Sorenson