Live Out Loud Colors for Fall 2012

Fall looks incredible - we made up styles from the line in special order colors and they are out of this world!

What a difference color makes!

And not just color- since I showed none of these styles in straight out black, but simply a change of color.

This is why I love doing custom made and special order  - there is no way we could sample the range of colors I offer.

Working in leather is way different than working in fabric.  First off we work in square feet- not in linear yards- the average linear yard is 11.25 sq feet (45" wide).  Cutting in leather... to utilize the grain and avoid the flaws, the industry considers a 30% loss normal so that's about 15 square feet of leather to one yard of 45" wide cloth.  Put simply,  leather easily costs 15X more than fabric since the per foot cost equals and usually exceeds the per yard cost of a decent fabric.

Right there that limits my samples!

In some cases you can get a higher loss - leather is a natural fiber so you can get a lot that is full of flaws & very hard to cut - table cutting is like a puzzle and a poor quality lot makes it a nasty one.  Not only do you loose yield , but it also takes a great deal longer to cut the same garment.

'cuse me, but ... leather is an entirely different animal! 

When I offer colors in leather- they work- feel secure & we'll get the world (well mostly NYC :) past black!!!

Live Out Loud Colors for Fall 2012

Behrle Leather Etsy Shop Sale

Big- changes are happening here and preparation we are making way and making room with a 50% off sale!

The Sale is happening in our Etsy shop ONLY.

Everything in our Etsy shop is 50% off with the coupon code FALLSAMPLES11.  We will be adding more items during the month of October so check back often!

Happy Fall!

Behrle Leather Etsy Shop Sale

Traveling Leather

This is a recent project for a client who travels a lot.  It needed to be light enough to be worn in many climates, and packable without adding too much weight.  The client brought to me a jacket he'd  purchased several years ago, from a well know European designer.  It was incredibly light weight and also very worn out.  In fact, it was actually pleather! (for lack of a better term)

He'd believed it to be leather at the time he purchased it and it did have an amazing hand to it.  It could have easily pass as leather when it was new, except for the weight.  Really, it was so good  only someone who really versed  in leather would be able to tell.  Plus the workmanship in it was very high, quite odd to put that work into a synthetic...

But, what had happened over 4 years of wear was inevitable with a petrol product.  The jacket's finish had virtually disintegrated everywhere there was friction, contact with the skin or the even the slightest perspiration!  The edges, the cuffs, full across the back, the collar, and the underarm area- to the elbow!

He wanted the jacket re-created as closely as possible, in real leather.  keeping it as light as possible and seamless along the length like the original. (This is often impossible since the very light skins tend to be very small and just don't allow for the length required in a men's jacket.)  It worked out perfectly that the one skin that usually runs larger suited this project to a T).  There were also fit adjustments needed, to have a really well fitting jacket.

This is the finished jacket:

The new jacket - just a little heavier than the original,  has minimal inner construction, to keep the weight down.  And,  it can comfortably go from Lima to London without adding too much extra to the carry on.

Traveling Leather

I am honored to have such amazing clients & working with them is a truly fulfilling & collaborative process.  This is what makes what I do so enjoyable.

I have no testimonial letters on my site anymore, since some tweeking removed them from my main page.  So for the time being I am going to start putting them here.  

So here is the first one:

I own dozens of pieces from every great leather designer there is--Gucci, Versace, Jitrois, Burberry Prorsum  etc.  Carla Behrle is better than all of them and at least half the cost and ten times more attentive and keeps working until the piece is perfect.  She is also remarkably quick. She has made three custom-made pieces for me and is working on a fourth.

I came in with nothing but a conception in my head for a pair of one-piece leather boot pants. The difficulty of designing that for look, feel and comfort was monumental. Let's put it this way--rather than wearing them I think I should frame them.  At any fashion house they would have cost three or four five times as much because of the design and labor. And you won't find them at any fashion house because they don't make them.

When it comes to leather design and make she is the best there is. I know.

Buzz Bissinger,
contributing editor for Vanity Fair

I am speechless...all I can say is:  Thank You, Buzz!!!!

Blood on the Snow

It is falling solidly right now - from where I am sitting you can hardly see across the way.  It may go on like this for days.   Looking at the photos of this jacket I recently finished  got me thinking of the Grimm's Brothers version of Snow White and the blood drop in the snow...

This color is probably my favorite color, especially in leather, a true, true oxblood. The combo of red and black against white has always struck me.  Perhaps it goes back to when I was about 3 or 4 and cut my foot and bled all over the black and white checkerboard floor.  It stopped me in my tracks, I have such a vivid memory of the colors and the contrast.

This is my fantasy Motorcycle Jacket.  It was inspired by and created for a great client and very cool guy. Buzz Bissinger. I hope he gets to wear it in the snow.

Blood on the Snow

Sharp Dressed Men

After seeing "Jack Taylor of Beverly Hills" I feel inspired…Custom-made Menswear has surreptitiously become my concentration and it's kind of funny.

Many years ago when I was studying costume design, my teacher Jose Varona was looking over my shoulder while I was sketching in class (was it for Eugene Onegin?) and commented on how good I was at designing for men.  He said  he found it unusual,  he felt most of his students preferred designing for women and thought it was much harder to design well for men.

I felt hugely complemented & I liked designing mens costumes, at 14 I wasn't much into ruffles - unless they were Roberto Cappucci type ruffles ("ruffles-on-acid" was how I thought of them- here's a taste!). Do an image search - you will see what I mean- mind altering!!

So I guess I've come full circle.

And with that in mind…Here's the 2nd of a pair of jackets I did recently….

Can you tell I've become bored with the Wedding Dress? :) will get back to it soon!

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Sharp Dressed Men

SPECTRE Style

Somehow the villains always look the coolest.  The best tailoring, the sharpest style.
It's why we've all emulated them all for years.  Besides, edgeless gets very, very boring, very quickly.

I was so very glad when frilly girlie-girl dresses went out of favor in NYC - my eyes were burning from the saccharine!   Things are so much better when they bite!   But, I was a bit ahead of the game with my womenswear & now I'm doing mostly menswear.   It's great really 'cause guys get it!

Case in point,   Jackets (Leather here, of course) fitted,  sharp tailoring,  edgy,  tough,  straddling fashion, fetish,  militaristic and of course my favorite,  Bond Villains! (Hey, the Bad Bond Girls were ALWAYS the best Bond Girls! I need to find more of them!)

Here I present, The dangerous Nehru Jacket.  Finely tailored, in a foreboding  ( yet deceptively fine & very light weight )  matte black lambskin.  Incredible, if I do say so myself!  Very Dr. No,  no?

Many Thanks to my customer,  John,  for posing for pix, one day I hope to get getter ones,  I have an

on-the-fly-studio set up now...perfect for those mastermind villains!

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SPECTRE Style

Rolex Leather Aviator Jacket Commission

Here is a recent custom commission of the Rolex Jacket, featured here  and here.  (Originally commissioned by Rolex for an advertisement.)

This one has  a real shearling fur collar and is a functional portrait collar cut, rather than the extreme (great looking, but very constricting for actual wear) off-the-shoulder cut of the editorial model in the advert.

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Rolex Leather Aviator Jacket Commission

BehrleNYC Leather in Hollywood

I will  be in the Los Angeles area from November 25th through the afternoon of December 1st.  Except for the day of Thanksgiving proper. (as far as I know at this point)

I am taking this opportunity to set up appointments for Custom-Made Leather as well as made to order leather pieces.  I will be staying in Hollywood, nearby the Walk of Fame and Grauman's.

I will meet with you to discuss your project & take measurements.  Once design is finalized, most projects can be completed through the mail via muslin fittings and photos that I go over step by step with you to so the finished garment  is absolutely the perfect piece, with the perfect fit.

I am looking forward to meeting both new and prospective customers, stylists, etc. during this time and will be setting aside as much time as possible to do so.  From unique jeans and jackets, to luxuriously detailed outerwear to extravagant Evening and Stage wear.  Unique and couture treatments, from finely detailed and beautifully finished traditional leather handwork  to exclusive and unique fabrics created with leathers and textiles. These are my specialties.

Please contact me at behrlenyc (at) gmail (dot) com.  Before November 23rd,  If you would like to arrange a meeting. 

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BehrleNYC Leather in Hollywood