Straight Up Crafty

We’re straight up crushing on Shinola. They believe in American manufacturing and that they can be part of its revitalization. Shinola is making an investment, bringing old buildings back to life, creating jobs, and reinvigorating the idea that the American Brand is not dead. Personally, I grew up with a family so deep in the American textile industry, that I remember the cry to “Buy American” and “invest in your community” and that is exactly what Shinola is doing. They are investing in the American Dream.

When looking at the Shinola website and reading their section on “The Places We Work” you can see the history and pride in the people who’ve worked in the manufacturing sector for almost as long as I’ve been alive and they are still there. They are there because of pride and because they love what they do. Loving what you do makes such a difference when producing high quality goods.

Producing high-quality, handcrafted products is a collaborative enterprise. That’s why we’ve partnered with a group of extraordinary American manufacturers whose obsession with craftsmanship and quality matches our own. Each of our partners, from Horween Leather to Waterford Precision Cycles, has a long legacy of making products that are beautiful, meaningful, and made to last.

Why not accept that manufacturing is gone from this country? Why not let the rust and weeds finish what they started? Why not just embrace the era of disposability?

Through two Detroit winters, we’ve asked ourselves these questions. And worked not to find our answer, but to build it.

Because we don’t think American manufacturing ever failed for being too good. Our worst didn’t come when we were at our best. It happened when we thought good was good enough.

It’s a tall order to return to form, but we’re up for it. We’re starting with the reinvigoration of a storied American brand, and a storied American city. Because we believe in the beauty of industry. The glory of manufacturing.

It’s why we are here. Making an investment in skill, at scale. Creating a community that will thrive through excellence of craft and pride of work. Where we will reclaim the making of things that are made well. And define American luxury through American quality.

The Shinola bikes are a personal favorite. The Women’s Bixby has now been given full priority at the top of my “want” list and I’ve printed photos to hang around my desk and in various parts at home. Each Shinola bicycle undergoes a precise, custom-level assembly by experts Shinola’s Detroit workshop within the College for Creative Studies. Shinola believes there’s only one way to properly build a bicycle, and that’s one at a time, by hand, with rigorous attention to detail and using only the highest quality components available. Click here to view a short film about their frame production in Wisconsin and assembly operations in Detroit.

Is manufacturing a lost cause? Or experiencing a rebirth?