Our Story

"One must imagine sisyphus happy." -Camus

Built for the Thinkers

Crafting leather takes time. It's not something most people ponder. I certainly didn't, a decade ago, when I first set foot in Mexico. For millennia, once an animal takes its leave, the hide embarks on its second journey. On this particular day, these hides have been seasoned and loaded onto a truck en route to the tannery. This is how I find myself on a loading dock in a cloud of flies unloading dead animal skins in late 2009 – the beginning of WP Standard.

But let me backtrack a bit. Following a series of unsuccessful career attempts, I made the choice to launch a business specializing in crafting leather guitar straps. And so, in late 2009, I found myself on a loading dock, surrounded by a swarm of flies, unloading the skins of deceased animals – the inception of WP Standard.

Radically transparent; designed to last.

We source the highest quality materials, crafted in ethical factories, for a timeless piece that you will have for years to come.

The WP Standard Process

Quality, from the get-go.
Handpicked Hides
Design Edits at Every Stage
Expert & Ethical Craftsmanship

The Journey, continued

As unpleasant as this all sounds, I find this next piece uplifting. The long process of transforming discarded flesh into a beautifully tanned hide. The journey of the hide is analogous to winemaking in many ways. If you’ve ever spent an afternoon in Napa Valley you’re familiar with terms like “terroir” and “tannins”. Leather is like this in that there are hundreds of variables from hide origins to tanning, tumbling, and finishing that end up in a final product that is completely unique (editors note: don’t take a date to a tannery). No two hides are the same and each batch has some variance in characteristics making your bag truly one of a kind.

From the tannery, we find our finished hides which are ready to be inspected, cut and sewn. This is a process we take great pride in and I’m humbled to see the work roll out from our artisans every day.

When I look at the bags that people carry around airports and cities, they are usually nylon or a pressed leather with not much character to it. But occasionally you’ll see something haggard and beautiful that has endured years of coffee stains, run-ins with rouge doors and leaky pens. This sets my imagination adrift. This is a bag, or rather a person with some stories to tell. And though buying some bag doesn’t automatically imbue life with good stories, perhaps it can be a humble reminder to make some.

-Ryan Barr, Founder