Western Makers

Spotlights on artists and artisans who specialize in silver, leather, stone, wood and beyond.

Ben Fife

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Ben Fife spent a good portion of his life outdoors. “My father was a survival instructor for the Air Force, so time in the wilderness was always filled with lessons on how to make somethin’ from nothin’, which also passed down a general attitude of ‘figure it out,’” he says. “While growing up in town, I witnessed both of my parents, very skillfully and creatively, remodeling every house we lived in. I didn’t understand it when I was young, but that was a big part of our income at the time. To me it seemed like they just enjoyed doing it, and once it was done, it was time to move on and find a new project.”

With that sort of background in his past, it should come as no surprise that Fife has found his calling in a tool-filled workshop in Spokane, Washington, where he crafts leather goods with his hands. His business, Westward Leather Co., produces items such as wallets, belts, handbags, cowboy hats and jewelry. The hand-crafted pieces he makes adhere to an aesthetic that Fife, who once worked in logging and forestry, refers to as “Westward life.”

“Through all my lines of work, my understanding of the importance of quality tools and quality outfitting was reinforced constantly. I’ve always been a ‘golden age thinker,’ so for me, the best quality I saw was when looking toward the past, and how things used to be made…Leather, with its inherent heritage, durability, beauty and utility, seemed a natural place to start. Hell, it’s one of the oldest things in the world!” he says. “…Westward is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek moniker, harkening back to the mentality of westward expansion—while paying homage to the grit and resilience of those who came before us, also calling us to remember and examine the ways in which we as people have always looked forward to the next thing, and often left a wake of devastation while making progress. So Westward Leather Co. is meant to carry a spirit with it, calling us to turn an eye to the past as we move toward the future, slow down a bit, restore and repair as much as we can that we might have broke during the first go-around, work with our hands, and figure it out…together.”

For more information visit
www.westwardleather.com,
or follow along on Instagram
(@westwardleather).
For additional inquiries email
ben@westwardleather.com.