Introducing the akweksDIRECTORY

The three questions asked most in leatherwork Facebook groups are some form of :

• • • • • • • • • How do I make … ?
                • How do I fix … ? and
                • Where do I find … ?

The akweksDIRECTORY is our answer to the last question.

Who We Are

Akweks is a startup company focused on the global leather industry. We are currently in the process of registering the firm as a limited liability company, and will provide details when we have done so.

At the moment, our web presence may be found in the Akweks groups and pages which focus on leatherwork and the global leather industry. The primary groups/pages are :

• Akweks LeatherSmiths, which focuses on the handcrafted segment of the industry;
• Akweks LeatherSmiths 4 Hire, which focuses on connecting makers with customers who want to order bespoke leather goods;
• Moscow LeatherSmiths, which also focuses on the handcrafted segment of the industry; and
• akweksGLOBAL, which focuses on the wholesale buyers and sellers of the leather hides used to produce finished leather goods and products.

Please, note that there is at least one Akweks group/page which has nothing to do with us.

What We Do

The original purpose of the parent company was to promote the handcrafted leather goods segment of the worldwide leather industry.

inspiration for the akweksDIRECTORY goes back to 1978, when Akwkes’s founder and director LJ Stevens turned his leatherwork hobby into a part time job while a full-time seminary student, husband, and new father.

He quickly learned the local leatherwork hobby store’s prices were too high for him to make a profit. And scoured his back issues of “Make It With Leather” looking for wholesaler’s with whom he could place relatively small orders. He eventually found a few he could work with. But felt it should be easier to locate suppliers than it had been.

The process was repeated in 2012 when he re-launched his leatherwork company in Austria, and worked craft markets and biker events throughout Austria. While the internet made it somewhat easier, it still took far too much time and effort to find suppliers.