Leather can be a tough sell. After all, there are only so many ways to make a shoe, and you’ve got generations of European cobblers looking over your shoulder. The same goes for belts and most other accessories on the rack. So when we see someone pull it off, we figure they’ve earned a little recognition.

Gordon Rush has been around since 1998, but it’s only recently that his work has caught our eye. For instance, this belt that blends subtle texture and stitching with ostentatiously visible thread for a look that’s both formal and irreverent. Rush is all about multiculturalism, and he throws in a few self-consciously Asian touches in his line—like Kanji on the soles of shoes, which should lead to interesting footprints—but his heart is with craftsmanship.

Which, as it happens, is just what we’re after.

So far they’re most popular among the hip-hop crowd, but Clarks Desert Boots are one item that’s ripe for crossover. The desert part means they’re impervious to sand, but the main appeal is the roomy, bubble-like front.

The Japanese have already caught on. Clarks is going halfsies with Japanese brand SHIPS to land in select Tokyo retailers with a rare ebony-leather version of the classic boot. They don’t look half bad…from here, anyway.

Maybe it’s the O.J. stigma, but folks don’t appreciate the value of a good pair of leather gloves. We say ditch cat-burglar black in favor of country-gentleman brown, and keep your knuckles warm through fall in the bargain.

Selectism turned us on to these items from Dents, a UK firm with a Rag & Bone collab already under its belt. Lucky for us, we prefer the unadulterated British version.

More than a few designers have made their names on the transformative qualities of black leather—Mr. Varvatos, for one—but nobody’s taken it as literally as this.

Welcome to the Men’s 09 line from Natalia Brilli, a French designer who specializes in making leather-coated embossments, like this credit-card covered wallet, or a laptop sleeve with a keyboard cut into the top. It’s not all mind-blowing, but the craft involved is much more complicated than you might think, given the way leather stretches.

And naturally, it’s all pretty tough.

Get a few more examples»

As we know all too well, it can be hard to get attention on the internet. But tacking a James Bond fan fiction in front of everything you write is the blogging equivalent of driving a snowmobile down a mountain with one hand while using the other hand to shoot the bad guys who are chasing you in faster snowmobiles until you drive off a cliff and unfurl your Union Jack parachute while they all crash and explode on the rocks below.

In other words, it’s risky.

Onlyknives.com was recently graced with a post on a do-it-yourself knife wallet, introduced by a 400 word vignette starring Mr. Bond himself. The funniest part is how much it reminds us of actual ad copy. Didn’t we see this on an Amiga poster somewhere?

Named “A Quantum of Mini-Tools,” the story chronicles Bond’s love for his Slimline Wallet and the raw sensual magnetism of said wallet. We would have preferred “The Wallet Who Loved Me” or “The Man with the Golden Wallet,” but nobody’s perfect.

The manuscript in full»

A well-worn leather briefcase is practically a badge of honor among the business class, but it makes it hard to sate our appetite for new thing. That is, unless you’re handy with an awl.

Portland’s Entermodal Leather has an interesting take on the problem. When you get one of their hand-stitched bags (currently at Odin, you get a handy leatherworker along with the bargain. He’ll restitch the seams, reinforce the frame, or whatever you require. More interestingly, if you decide on a change of style—maybe even a few wallets instead of an overnighter—they’ll take the same wonderfully worn leather and remake it into something entirely new.

Well, maybe not entirely.