Jessica Zoutendijk - Large Leather

How long have you been working with leather?

Thirty years. Paul, my business partner, basically saw somebody making leather belts and thought “huh, I can do that.” He started buying leather and making the belts. I joined him in 1976, and 1977 is when we opened our first business together in Amsterdam. It started more with just belts that he was carving and tooling. Now we make everything, bags, belts, and small leather goods. It just keeps growing. All parts of the business are really 50-50, making, preparing, selling, everything.

Have you always been artistic?

Yes, I went to school for modern dance for a few years. My whole family is artistic. My Dad is a play director. A couple of my brothers are musicians, photographers. Art was always very important in my family. To my Dad, art is what raises life above the mundane.

What are the challenges of working with leather?

Leather has a mind of its own and you’ve got to kind of just follow it. There’s really stiff hard leather that is hard to work with and there’s really thin soft leather which is almost harder to work with. I often said that after 15 years I was finally starting to get good. That’s what I said 15 years ago, so now I would say I’m pretty good at it. It’s a nice challenge. It’s not like a piece of plastic, you can’t just cut it every time and expect it come out the same each time. You cut them all the same and they’re all going to come out slightly different. That’s the challenge to make it look right.

What motivates your designs?

I need to live off this. I need to make what people want, what people will use. So that is a big part, considering what are people asking for, what do they want. And then we try to create it our way. We don’t like to combine leather with other materials. Leather is stronger than plastic, nylon, anything you could combine it with. It’s really important to us that our products are all leather. All of the trim, the lining in the pockets, it all has to be leather.

Why do you choose to sell at farmers markets?

The model of the market is direct from producer to consumer and that’s what I like. It’s so important, just like people want to buy vegetables that haven’t traveled all the way across the country, why not buy arts that is made by local people, a lot of them using recycled materials. I love the farmers markets. It’s full of good, healthy, local food and wonderful energy. People come to the market to buy their food, but art is the food for the soul. Art is good for the heart.

Did you ever consider designing for a brand name?

Selling out? No. We started in the same year as Coach. But we never sold out, and I’m proud of that. I don’t like to have a boss, and I don’t really like to be a boss. So, as big as the two of us can make it is good enough. Right now it’s getting much more of a shape. That’s the creative part of the business now, not only making the product, but making Large Leather into an efficient, complete little business. The artist controls everything, you buy your raw materials, you make your product, you figure out where to sell it, you advertise it, you do your bookkeeping, your PR, it’s very complete. To make those pieces run well is the challenge of being self-employed and having your own business.

Can you illustrate the difference between buying a bag from Coach for example, and buying a bag from Large Leather?

Just like people want to know where their lettuce comes from, the same is true for the products. I have become the local leather worker for the Marin Farmers Market, and people will come to me. First of all my bag is not a throw away product, I will replace any zipper, any clasp, any strap right here, it’s not like you have to send it off somewhere. The other part is that I make them all leather. There’s no plastic involved. Most commercial leather goods will have a lot of synthetic materials in them. So if you want to have it all leather, this is one of the few places where you can get it. Also, I’m open hearing design ideas from customers, people saying “this is really the best thing ever, can you make it?” So I’m still in touch with my public and I know what they’re asking for and I can make what they want.

Describe the artisan community here at the farmers market.

I think it is really a wonderful group of artists, and I think there is such a variety here: I mean wonderful ceramic artists, photography, glass blowers, doll-makers, soap makers, jewelers, and so many new things coming up all the time. It’s a family, it’s my second family. When my Mom died, some of my friends asked me “Why are you coming to the market?” Well this is my support team. So yes, it’s a wonderful group of people who create incredible art.

As a shopper, you get to talk with all the people, and then use their work in your home. Their soap is in your shower. You eat your cereal out of their bowl. It makes every corner of your home feel more personal. You know where things are from and who made them. That’s very valuable, just like it with our vegetables and how people like to talk with a farmer and ask, “How do you grow that?” So much of that is the same idea with the artisans. We’re not just selling you some product, it’s a little piece of us.

What do you love most about your work?

Being independent. You have to be self-motivated to do it, but I enjoy it, nobody is telling me what to do. I can decide what I make, where I want to take it, for how much I’m going to sell it. Those are all my decisions, and that’s my freedom. You have to work really hard at it, but that’s my choice.

I know a lot of people that dropped out of big paying jobs that want to follow their heart, that want to make whatever inspires them, and get the satisfaction from that instead of just making a lot of money. I’ve been here for 20 years at the market, I love this place. It’s got a life of its own, it’s an enormous market with a lot of energy. It has a very soulful connection for a lot of people.