Fire Clay – a South Grand leather collection, St. Louis

An August study.

Fire Clay is a small leather collection rooted in the six blocks of South Grand and the brick streets of Tower Grove South, St. Louis. Luggage tags, journals and their kin – each pressed under a steel die the way this neighborhood's bricks were once pressed in their molds.

First, the mark the collection is named after. Tower Grove South stands on fire clay, and St. Louis brickmakers pressed their names into the wet frog of every brick. We cut a brick of our own and pressed FIRE CLAY into it.

FIRE CLAY pressed into a brick-shaped steel die design for the Fire Clay collection from South Grand, St. Louis.

On the toiletry bags it sits low in the corner, honeyed russet stacked over dark espresso – fired clay over the dark seam it came out of.

Two leather toiletry bags carry the Fire Clay brick design from the Fire Clay collection.

Next, the whole district, counted. Six bricks in a clean stack and SIX BLOCKS beneath – the entire business district on a key fob, one in warm brick red and one in pale greige, like brick against its limestone trim.

Six bricks form the Six Blocks steel die design for the Fire Clay collection from South Grand, St. Louis.

Two leather keychains carry the Six Blocks design from the Fire Clay collection.

Then the machine the street grew along. SOUTH GRAND rides above a single stretched trolley wire, and the streetcar underneath reaches up with its pole – the car draws its power from the name of its own line.

A South Grand streetcar forms the steel die design for the Fire Clay collection from St. Louis.

Two of the luggage tags take the district's daylight colors, warm red and deep green. The black tag carries the design in gold.

Three leather luggage tags carry the South Grand streetcar design from the Fire Clay collection.

After that, the park. Tower Grove has kept its Victorian ironwork since 1872, so we bent TOWER GROVE PARK along a wrought iron gate arch with 1872 hung in its medallion, and gave the whole gate the floor of the golden tan tray. A walk ends at the catchall – the keys land on the gate they passed.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

Tower Grove Park ironwork forms a steel die design for the Fire Clay collection from St. Louis.

A golden tan leather catchall tray carries the Tower Grove Park gate design from the Fire Clay collection.

And finally, the oldest name the ground has. Before the brick and the streetcar, this was Prairie des Noyers – the walnut prairie, farmed as common fields. A walnut sprig above the old name, in the corner of a journal, because a blank page is common ground too. One journal in deep green, one in warm caramel tan.

A walnut sprig forms the Prairie des Noyers steel die design for the Fire Clay collection from St. Louis.

Two leather journals carry the Prairie des Noyers walnut sprig design from the Fire Clay collection.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If Fire Clay belongs in your corner of South City, or you'd like anything here made real or changed – say hello through our contact page.