A great leather bag, whether for work, play, or travel, is a great addition to any man or woman’s style. We extensively researched manufacturers across the country to find all the leather bags made in the USA. Check out our findings below! If you’re more interested in styles specifically for women, we also looked into handbags and purses made in the USA.
Complete List of Leather Bag Brands Made in the USA
Since 1882, Duluth Pack has been handcrafting their hunting, shooting, and outdoor products in the United States, starting from humble beginnings in Duluth, Minnesota. Most of their bags and packs are primarily canvas, but have leather handles, straps, and other parts of the bag that is very high quality. Mike has the original Duluth Pack model and loves it.
NutSac makes a ton of awesome leather bags for men. They have briefcases, toiletry bags, admin pouches, wallets, and lots more. Check out their Jones models for a great luxury briefcase that will last you a lifetime. Mike has the Rucksak and did a recent YouTube video featuring it, linked above.
Billykirk was founded in 1999 by brothers Chris and Kirk Bray in Los Angeles, California. They make their products with only the highest quality full-grain leather; the thick, durable material you would see in products made a couple of generations ago. Since these are handcrafted with high-quality leather, no two bags are the same. You may also see some small scars, creases, etc., as you continue to use the bag – these are character marks, not flaws. Billykirk has a lot of different styles, so make sure to check out everything that they have to offer.
Colonel Littleton is a popular leather goods manufacturer that makes great leather handbags, belts, wallets, and other accessories. They are based in Tennessee and use everything from cow leather to bison, alligator, and others.
JW Hulme was a high-end leather goods manufacturer that produced incredible leather duffel bags, crossbody bags, satchels, and more. Unfortunately, J.W. Hulme closed its doors in 2023. Not everything they offered was made in the USA, but they have plenty of old inventory that is still available.
Lifetime Leather is an amazing company that has been handcrafting leather goods in San Tan Valley, Arizona, since 2011. They have a lot of leather bag options to choose from, including a large tote bag and some smaller items.
Copper River Bag Company is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and is handcrafting every leather bag they make. They have a wide variety of bags to choose from: laptop bags, duffle bags, tote bags, camera bags, briefcases, and backpacks. Check out some of the videos on their website to take a peek inside their factory and manufacturing process.
Like Duluth Pack, Frost River makes great outdoor and canoe packs from a mix of canvas and leather. They have a ton of styles to choose from, and these bags will certainly last you a lifetime.
Gokey is mainly known for their hunting boots, but they also make some nice leather and canvas travel bags and gun cases. They have duffels, totes, briefcases, shoulder bags, and a few more options in plenty of colors and styles.
Range Leather Co. makes beautiful full-grain leather bags for men and women out of their shop in Wyoming. Everything is domestically sourced and handcrafted – no two bags are the same.
They don’t have a ton of style options, but Waltzing Matilda USA makes some great leather tote bags out of their workshop in Maine. Everything is hand-sewn, and they also have some purse and travel bag options.
Remade USA recycles old leather jackets to make beautiful leather handbags. Talk about taking some unwanted material and making it desirable again! We love their mission.
Pingree Detroit is a cool worker-owned business that uses leftover leather from the Detroit automotive industry to create some really unique leather bags.
Korchmar has been making leather goods for over 100 years. They are most known for their leather bags, however, only some are made in the USA these days. We linked their made in the USA collection here, where they have some nice laptop briefcases and weekender bags.
Holtz Leather has tons of awesome leather bags for men and women, all made from 100% full-grain American leather that is handpicked from local tanneries. They have tote bags, weekenders, briefcases, purses, and a ton more. And their team can even personalize the bag for you.
I love the leather bags from Buffalo Billfold Company. They have a ton of awesome options for everything from clutches to large totes, and everything is handmade from US-sourced bison leather.
Beargrass Leather handcrafts beautiful leather bags out of their workshop in Lakeside, Montana. It’s a husband and wife operation and they are committed to using American-sourced raw materials. Check out their handbags, tote bags, and more in tons of different colors and styles.
Urban Southern makes leather handbags for women and handcrafts everything in Pennsylvania. They use full-grain leather for their bags too, so you know you’re getting a high-quality bag that will stand the test of time.
American Bench Craft handcrafts satchels, totes, and backpacks from high-quality leather sourced from US tanneries. Everything is handmade in their Massachusetts workshop.
Mike’s YouTube Video on American Made Leather Bags
How to Find Leather Bags Made in the USA
In addition to providing a list of leather goods made in the USA, we want to empower you to conduct your own research and shop more shrewdly. Let’s examine the leather goods industry—from sourcing materials to understanding labels and shopping strategies to find top-quality American-made products. First, let’s break down what “made in the USA” signifies and how to interpret it.
What Does “Made in the USA” Mean?
What does it mean for something to be made in the USA? “Made in the USA” is a label protected by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A company can only use this label if its product is “all or virtually all” made in the USA.
Although it seems easy to find an American-made leather bag by simply using this label, some gray areas can be hard to determine what “all or virtually all” encompasses. For this reason, it is also worth doing additional research to determine whether a particular product is genuinely made in the United States.
Check out our article on this topic if you want to learn more.
Materials
The first step in finding a genuine American-made product is to look at the source material used. It is important to research where these materials come from. Of course, if you’re looking for a leather bag, you will need to look at leather. On top of that, you should also research the other components, such as lining.
Lining
People often forget that the lining also makes up a large percentage of any bag. Leather bags sometimes do not come lined at all, but if they are lined, chances are they will be lined with cotton or polyester.
Cotton
Many bags are lined with cotton – a soft, natural fiber that can easily be customized. In terms of manufacturing cotton, China and India are world leaders in this raw material. However, the USA doesn’t lag too far behind and ranks third in cotton production. With the USA producing almost 4 million metric tons of cotton, finding US-made cotton shouldn’t be difficult.
Polyester
Polyester is another popular material used to line leather bags. You’ll often find leather bags lined in a cotton and polyester blend. China is the world’s largest producer of polyester. The United States doesn’t produce as much polyester as they do cotton, but you’ll still US-based companies like the Eastman Chemical Company and William Barnet & Son. They are a couple of the biggest polyester manufacturers in the world.
Leather
When you are looking for a leather bag, the most important raw material to look at is, of course, leather. The USA is a major leather manufacturer, so you shouldn’t have to search too far and wide before you come across a genuinely American-made leather bag. However, it is worth keeping in mind that good quality leather can also come from other countries like Italy. And more affordable leather often comes from more prominent manufacturing hubs like China.
The US mainly produces cowhide leather, so if you’re looking for something a bit more exotic, you may find it a bit more difficult to find American leather.
You should also look at the quality of the leather itself to ensure that you’re buying a good leather bag that will last you years to come. Specifically, you should be looking for full-grain leather instead of genuine leather. “Genuine leather” is an umbrella term for anything that is “technically leather,” so if you’re looking for quality, that’s not what you’ll want.
Labeling
Researching the materials of a leather bag is a good starting point, but you’ll also need to look at the labeling to determine whether or not a bag is made in the USA. As previously mentioned, the FTC polices the usage of the label “made in the USA.” However, no pre-approval is needed for companies to use this protected label. Instead, it is up to the companies to determine whether their product qualifies as being “made in the USA.”
So, ultimately, it is up to individual consumers to do additional research to make sure they purchase something genuinely made in the United States.
You should also beware of tricky wording in the labeling of a product. Companies are required to honestly label their products and state where they are made, but some companies will be crafty with their wording to wrongly imply that their products are made in the United States when they are not.
For example, words like “designed in the USA” or “manufactured in the USA” mean that only a part of the production happened in the USA. Another common phrase is “made in America,” which suggests that the product was made in North America, which usually means the product was made in Canada or Mexico.
Other Tips
Here are some additional tips to help you find leather bags made in the USA.
Go Online
Companies are not required to label their products in any online materials. But if a product is truly made in the USA, companies will generally market it proudly. So, go online and check the company’s About Us page or individual product pages and look for any indicators. On the flip side, if you can’t find any information about where a company’s products are made, likely, the product is not made in the USA.
American Flag Stickers Do Not Mean American-Made
Just because you see an American flag sticker on the labeling of a product does not mean that the product is made in the United States. The flag on a label is not protected like the phrase “made in the USA,” so take it with a grain of salt.
Call the Company
Call the company to ask where their products are sourced and manufactured. The customer service line should be able to answer this question for you.
Leather Bags Not Made in the USA
Check out this list of popular leather bag brands that we found during our research that are not made in the USA. We’ll continue to update this list as we find more brands.
- Madewell – Made in China.
- Cuyana – Made in Italy, Turkey, and Argentina.
- Kate Spade – Mostly made in China, Dominican Republic, Italy, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
- Yves Saint Laurent – Made in Italy.
- Sarep + Rose – Made in Africa.
- Fossil – Made in China.
