High Desert Current – a Reno leather collection

An August collection.

HIGH DESERT CURRENT is a small leather collection about Reno – a city that began where the Truckee could be crossed, and has reinvented itself beside that water ever since. Five stamps cut from the place itself, pressed into leather.

First, the namesake. We drew Reno's two currents as one continuous stroke – the river's calm meander snaps electric at midstream, then settles back to water. It looks genuinely beautiful pressed at generous size into the golden tan tray.

The HIGH DESERT CURRENT die joins a river line to an electric zigzag for the High Desert Current leather collection of Reno.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped HIGH DESERT CURRENT from the High Desert Current collection of Reno.

Next, the whole river on a luggage tag. Tahoe at one end and Pyramid at the other, with 121 miles of meander between – a tag that carries the entire watershed. We ran it lengthwise on pale sea-blue for the alpine end and golden tan for the desert end. The black tag stands for the neon city between, and it carries the gold.

The Tahoe to Pyramid river-route die from the High Desert Current leather collection of Reno.

Three leather luggage tags carry the Tahoe to Pyramid river route from the High Desert Current collection of Reno.

Then, the founding fact. Reno exists because a wagon could cross the river here, so we cut a little plank bridge and let it say the rest – EVERY CITY BEGINS WITH A CROSSING. We pressed it on navy for the water under the bridge and chestnut for the old downtown brick.

A plank bridge die reading EVERY CITY BEGINS WITH A CROSSING from the High Desert Current leather collection of Reno.

Two leather keychains carry the crossing design from the High Desert Current collection of Reno.

After the river, the rain. The high desert's signature scent is sagebrush just after a storm, and a travel kit is the one bag whose business is scent – so its corner carries a sprig catching the first drops, on warm gray over deep espresso.

A sagebrush sprig and rain die from the High Desert Current leather collection of Reno.

Two leather toiletry bags carry the sagebrush-after-rain stamp from the High Desert Current collection of Reno.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Heraclitus said no one steps in the same river twice. A journal is the loophole – open an old page and step right back in. So the stamp repeats one meander of the Truckee exactly, twice.

We pressed it on two waters, deep navy and pale sea-blue – the same river, twice. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

Two repeated river lines form the SAME RIVER TWICE die from the High Desert Current leather collection of Reno.

Two leather journals carry the SAME RIVER TWICE stamp from the High Desert Current collection of Reno.

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

If you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.