AnthonySolis

My name is Anthony Solis and I am the founder of Xklusive Leather.

In 2014, I just graduated high school and tried leather crafting for the first time after seeing a family members wallet they made. After purchasing my own leather kit and trying to make a wallet; I didn’t like the results I thought it wasn’t for me. A couple of months later, I decided to give it another try. I had purchased better leather & tools this time, the results were completely different. I fell in love with the craft from that point on and became obsessed. My family member who had been leather crafting would let me watch him work on projects and invite my family to art shows he was in. The culture, the people and the appreciation for the art encapsulated me.

Soon orders started pouring in from family, friends & others who chose to support my craft. Working out of a corner of my bedroom; I had a foldable table, a keyboard chair and my tools. Many people were stunned at how fast my carving and tooling improved. I started to realize leather crafting would be a way to creative freedom and Independence I desired in my life.

At this point I was working part time at a local city, enrolled at Cal State LA where I was unsure with what I was doing with my life. After spending more than a year in school and changing my majors 3 times I decided leather crafting was more important than school and dropped out. By that point I had purchased my first industrial sewing machine and kept improving my tools. With that decision in 2016, I then officially founded Xklusive Leather.

Finally, in 2018 I outgrew the bedroom and moved the business into my grandfather’s 300 sqft RV garage in West Covina, CA. The new space was renovated and converted into a workshop which allowed me to purchase more equipment, tools and continually grow. As every entrepreneur the goal now is to quit my full-time job and fully invest myself into my dream.

Leather crafting is my passion, nothing leaves the shop without it being perfect. As the sole craftsman at Xklusive Leather I hope you get the same satisfaction when using your leather good as much as I did in creating it.