"Classic styles with an esoteric aura", the proper description for a man's work known to be the "go to guy" in custom leather, and his name is Anton. His designs epitomize the direction where leather designs are headed, and if you find that hard to believe, ask a few of his celebrity clients. Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson, Tyrese, Carmen Electra, Usher, and Eve just to name a few, and they won't the last. I caught up with Anton in his shop in SOHO, NYC. Here we talked about where he's been, where he's headed, and his recent foray into denim and accessories...

Tell me what your line, "Anton", is all about...
The designs are what I would wear or would like to see people wearing, I guess I mean to say the concepts are "real". They're wearable, they're functional, they work for you. You have to be able to "employ" your clothes to do something, and that's what I try to do, to make clothes that you can employ, in a sense "hire" to do a job for you. Depending on what you do in your life will determine what type of job the clothes will do for you. If your a recording artist they can do one thing, if your a regular guy who'd like a nice pair of pants and jacket, then the clothes can do something else.
What sets your collection apart from others featuring leather?
We tend to make all our leather pieces reversible, so it's more versatile. We use alot of innovative techniques (Anton picks up an unfinished leather jacket) to where you can have a leather jacket on the outside, and the inside be suede. We do it in a way where the possibility is hidden, so people have no idea your wearing a reversible piece. Besides changing the look, this gives you a chance to change your personality, and you can "employ" your clothes do more than before.

Tell me how you got started in designing...

Well, I'm an artist, and I've been making things since I've was 10 years old. I started sewing when I was 12. Alot of what I'm able to do comes from all the years I've put into this. I know the sewing machine very well, and I know what to do to make it do what I want it to do. And that's the key, you have to know how to get the result you want, and the key to that is to do it for a long time. I really got my start on St. Marks Place in New York at a studio called Studio 109. I had a partner, she had this retail space, but she wasn't doing much with it. I came in, we had an agreement where I would come in and produce, create. It worked out for about a year and a half. It was a good place to start for an artist. Great place to get creative energy and bounce off ideas, get peoples opinion on things. But I eventually outgrew it, it became a jugular for a while. So I moved to mid-town, and now I'm in SOHO. I made some great contacts while I was at Studio 109, and it was the first time I really got to test my work out. What I learned was the response to my work was very good. I started making some money, then I got my first celebrity client, Lauren Hill. If anybody remembers when her first CD came out ("The Miseducation of Lauren Hill"), there was a promotional picture of her writing on the black board wearing a leather skirt, and a leather top, that was my mine. It was great exposure, and I continued to grow from that.
Why did you decide to carve out a niche in leather versus fabric?
Leather has always been a challenge to me, fabric was always easy. I worked with fabric for a long time, I started out with fabric. But until I worked with leather, I didn't realize the power that it had. I loved the way the different skins felt, and how it did things fabrics didn't do. That's what the main draw was, the satisfaction I got working with leather, I never got with fabrics. Plus I've been doing this for so long, I kinda got bored doing the same thing, and I'm always one for a challenge. I needed a challenge to be able to try and do something no one else had done before, and leather offered that challenge.

(As we speak, Anton is applying leather trim onto a pair of custom denim pants)
Tell me about your foray into denim with your signature leather designs...
I'm finding denim has some interesting properties too.
#1. It works well with leather, and, #2 it offers me a challenge similiar to what leather gives me.
Like leather, everything we're making with denim we're making reversible. We kinda realized that denim and leather go together, whereas you can't say the same about other combinations. Silk and leather? Maybe. Wool and leather? Doesn't sound right. Silk goes with leather, but denim goes with leather much better. They're both kinda rugged. Leather is a nice additive, if your gonna add something to denim, add leather. It just seems to work, they both seem to go together.
Getting back to Lauren Hill, tell me about the work you did for her and other celebrity clients...
Lauren Hill, it was a good gig, they gave us alot to do. We had to produce several pieces for her . Some were for video, some for print, and some were for stage. It was very demanding for a while, but it stayed interesting. But at a certain point, sometimes artists have to move on. They have to keep growing as artists, they have to keep searching for new looks. It was good while it was happening, I got a chance to watch her grow during her rise at that time.
How about Lenny Kravitz...
Lenny was interesting because we did a couple of gigs for him yet we didn't meet. We sent everything thru the mail. When we supplied the clothes for the "American Woman" video, I still hadn't met him. That was real cool because EVERYONE saw that. Then later, he was at a photo shoot, and he asked if I could come down and meet him. So I went down and I met him, and he was really cool. He ended up buying a couple more pieces, and we got together a couple more times. You can see him wearing a pair of ostrich pants in the movie "Zoolander" that he bought. Lenny was cool because he would really employ the clothes, alot of celebrities might only employ them for one occasion. But I think the true leather enthusiasts would never do that. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (of Aerosmith) have picked up pieces, and Joe Perry pretty much wore his the whole tour at the time. Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) a couple years back did the same thing, wore it many times on the road. They all really live it and rock it, where alot of artists today tend to change 2,3 times in a day...
How about Usher...
Usher was interesting because he's from a younger audience. At first, we did Usher on a photo shoot, but then we didn't have contact with him for a while. Then we got called to do work on his latest CD (80701) where he's kneeling down, and he's got on some white leather pants. Then we got a big gig with him for the 'Micheal Jackson 30 Anniversary Concert. We dressed him and Mya for the show.
Your surprising alot of people with your accessory collection, what are you bringing to the public?
Belts for men and women, because it's hard to find a good belt sometimes. For women we're doing some simple handbags. There are alot of complicated handbags that have alot of compartments, but I'm trying to keep it simple. We're also working some book covers and a little home collection, so we're trying to do everything. With fashion week here in New York, do you have any shows showcasing any new treats? Yeah, we're working on a big rock n roll blowout show on Valentine's Day. Until then, we're just here working on a few pieces for someone to "employ"...