Swiss Design. Brooklyn Made.

It's not just a job. It's a feeling. Passion and determination. An understanding for the material. An eye for beauty. It's not easy to start a business and build a fashion brand from scratch. Production consumes a lot of time, leaving less of it for sales and marketing. But Alfred Stadler has been doing it for five years. From the beginning Alfred Stadler Lifestyle's focus is on quality and functionality, designing and producing high quality collections of bags, accessories and home products made of leather, stonewashed cottons and wool felt. Whenever Alfred can do so and remain competitive his materials are sourced domestically.

Alfred's introduction to artisanal craftsmanship began when he apprenticed with a saddle maker in Switzerland building custom saddles for Olympic dressage riders. Armed with this experience working with Old World tools as well as his mastery of the revered two-needle saddle stitch, Alfred soon landed at high end design companies like DeSede, Jack Lenor Larsen, Ruckstuhl and Vitra. He has an outside-in perspective on the significance of Made in America and believes that the United States stands to benefit in the long term by investing its own substantial resources in building a solid foundation for production.

In his opinion American consumers really do want things Made in USA, but may not appreciate the value of what's made here. Moreover, Alfred wishes more talented artisans choose to hone their craft as he did. As a proponent of quality made products, he teaches leather craftsmanship classes at Pioneer Works, an education and research center near his studio. Alfred is making footprints along the way toward steering American consumers away from cheap, fast fashion and toward something more meaningful and long lasting. Alfred Stadler Lifestyle products are available online shipped direct from his workspace in Red Hook, Brooklyn and in retail stores primarily in the Northeast.