Part of the impetus for starting Mrs. Blandings was to let folks know that there was a lot of great stuff going on in Kansas City.
In the last seven years, there’s been significant growth and coverage of our creative community. This makes me happy.
But I’ve found that recently, I have started to travel the same paths and frequent the same joints. Last week, I decided to get out a little more.
I’ve covered KC CO., a local leather brand, before, but I had not seen the studio. So I emailed the owner and craftsman, Dominic Scalise, and asked if I could come down and poke around. See his process. Ask some questions.
People here are, on the whole, friendly and creative people are, on the whole, excited to show someone what they are doing. Scalise was no different.
He showed me the prototype for the new briefcase/portfolio he is working on. He ran his finger over the loop of the closure and told me how there is metal underneath the leather to keep it from collapsing. He furrowed his brow ruminating on the kinks he is working out, though they were not visible to me. KC CO. shares space with custom furniture maker, David Polivka, and while the room was quiet when I was there, there was a current of energy in the air. It’s a pulse of new ideas paired with old world skills, not unknown to the types of people who are excited by not only finding the best thread from France, but also who are delighted by its label.
Scalise started by making watchbands for himself. Now he has a collection of belts, bags – including the new tote and the clutch,in the picture above, that is one of my favorites – and a really swell keychain. You can find his entire collection here.
