In The Know with Billykirk.

WHAT. Each week we interview rising stars in the world of fashion, design, food and culture about how they live their life and the places and things they love.

WHO. Billykirk is designing some of the highest quality men’s accessories and leather goods out there. The company was founded by brothers Kirk and Chris Bray in Santa Monica in 1998 after the two became obsessed with a vintage leather watch band they saw in a pawn shop. Today, the brothers have since moved to Brooklyn, and are starting to raise eyebrows in the fashion and design community for their handcrafted work.

Q. What are you wearing today?

A. Chris: A Bon Iver t-shirt, Unis khaki trousers, and Varvatos for Jack Purcell tennis shoes.
Kirk: A super soft oxford from Muji, APC jeans and my beat up Redwing chukkas. Oh, and my newly acquired Workers denim apron c/o Andy at Reference Library.

Q. Aside from your own company of course, what brands are you excited about right now?
A. Chris: APC, Mister Freedom, Workers, Rogues Gallery, Unis, S.N.S Herning, which is a Danish company that specializes in knitwear, Barbour, Hickey, Billy Reid, Norsea Industries, Margiela, Freemans Sporting Club, the list could go on and on.
Kirk: Some of my favorites out there right now are Engineered Garments, Our Legacy, Steven Alan, Fjallraven, which is a Swedish camping and outerwear company, Wood Wood, Oliver Spencer and Rachel Comey for shoes.

Q. What’s your favorite place to eat in the city?
A. Chris: Macao Trading Co. They serve interesting, tasty dishes there and the staff is always very attentive and friendly. Downstairs they’ve got an intimate lounge with good music and another bar.

Kirk: Raoul’s, because its old school New York and you can sit at the bar and have a gin and tonic and split an incredible steak au poivre. Preferably with a nice looking lady.

Q. How does the design process happen at Billykirk – where do you get your inspiration?
A. Chris: Sometimes it can just be from a piece of hardware, like a buckle we happen to find, and over time an entire design will evolve around it. Most of the time though we design out of necessity; if one of us gets a new digital camera or laptop we start designing something to house it. It’s a habit. We also get a lot of ideas from vintage military, equestrian gear, WGSN, EBay, swap meets, that sort of thing.

Q. Even though you’ve been around for years it seems like the word has really gotten out over the past 12 months. Given the recent momentum, what’s next for the both of you?
A. Chris: We’ve got upcoming collaborations with Opening Ceremony, J. Crew, Freeman’s Sporting Club, Hollander & Lexer, Freeman Transport, which is a bike maker in Montana, and a project with a shoe company that we can’t talk about just yet, but will announce soon.

Kirk: Expanding the line and continue to look at the prospects of opening a store.

Chris: All the incredible collaborations we’re currently working on are extremely humbling. Seeing “Billykirk for J. Crew” still seems a bit crazy to us. These companies want to work with us and feel a certain connection to our aesthetic and design ideas, which is flattering.

Q. You’ve already made a stand on how your designs are produced and sourced, but overall, how do you want people to think of Billykirk?
A. Kirk: I think both Chris and I want to be known for making well design goods that are built to last.

Chris: Definitely – I think all along we’ve tried to design and produce items we’ll feel proud to own 20 years from now. Not only in design and function, but also how it wears in. For instance, we source our leather from top quality domestic hides that are primarily used in the horse tack industry, you know, the leather used for saddles, headgear, and other equipment that has to take a beating. So we knew from the start that the leather, if treated right, would be around for a long, long time.

WHERE. Unis, Steven Alan, 10over6,
Hollander & Lexer, Odin, Jake, Blackbird, Barney’s, Bloomingdale’s,
Takashimaya, and others. For a full list see Billykirk’s Stocklist.