SUSAN BENDER

After graduating from the Stern School of Business at NYU and a stint in the corporate world, SUSAN BENDER‘s desire to work in fashion guided her straight to the garment district in New York City. She chose her favorite medium, leather, to design a collection of comfortable and wearable pieces for her friends and then for their friends. A leather piece can last a lifetime. A great leather piece can be worn often with multiple outfits, sometimes completing a look and other times acting as a discreet layer. The leather cardigan works as a layering piece, both completing an outfit and adding some extra coverage. The cropped leather moto, which is slightly edgier than the cardigan, offers a little more of a casual, cool vibe.

The leather is made in New York City in clean, fair paying factories where she knows all of the factory workers and they know her. The pandemic has created a lean garment district but those who have remained come to work with smiles on their faces and endless energy to make beautiful garments. There is a tremendous pride in the slow and careful workmanship that is integral to each garment and with that, they become pieces that can remain in your fashion rotation for many years.