About
El Gato Montes is a husband-and-wife studio creating one-of-one handmade leather goods from a small workshop. Every holster, belt, bag, and pair of boots is hand-cut, hand-stitched, and stone-set by us — no factories, no shortcuts.
How we got here
It started years ago with two people, a few tools, and miles of road. Santiago first learned leatherwork over a decade ago while traveling through Latin America, refining the craft through years of hands-on experience, observation, and obsessive practice.
From there, El Gato Montes grew into a creative collaboration between husband-and-wife duo Jamie and Santiago — inspired by travel, craftsmanship, music, desert landscapes, and a deep appreciation for objects made with intention.
What began as a small passion project slowly evolved into a growing collection of handcrafted leather goods, boots, and accessories designed to feel timeless, functional, and deeply personal. Today, El Gato Montes works alongside a small team of skilled artisans and makers who help bring each piece to life using ethically sourced materials and traditional techniques.
Even as El Gato Montes continues to evolve, our intention remains rooted in the same place: creating pieces with character, utility, and soul — meant to accompany people through everyday life and adventure alike.
What we believe
Free-Range Leather
Sourced from local free-range farms. We also scour upholstery shops and shoemakers for upcycled scraps — nothing goes to waste.
Solid Brass Hardware
No mass-produced nickel imports. Our hardware is sourced and produced locally. Built to last, not built to break.
Plastic-Free Workshop
Our workshop, processes, and products are free of plastic. We build with natural materials, not synthetics.
How a piece gets made
Design
Every piece begins with painstaking design work — choosing the silhouette, the leather grain, the placement of stones. Some designs come from years of refinement. Some are sketched on a napkin at a festival.
Material
We hand-pick leather hides for each project, looking for the right thickness, drape, and natural character. Stones are selected one at a time — labradorite for its blue fire, turquoise for its earth, moonstone for its quiet glow.
The road
Each year we pack up the collection and hit the road, setting up at festivals and gatherings across North America — Lightning in a Bottle, Electric Forest, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Envision, Gem & Jam. These pop-ups let us meet the people who wear our work, hear the stories the pieces carry, and find new inspiration for what comes next.
If you would like us at your event, market, or festival: events@elgatomontes.com.
Community
Community is the most integral part of who we are. Community in our trades, community in our art, community in our daily lives. We are people of color, immigrants, and travelers from a variety of backgrounds, and we embrace those differences in the way we make and the way we sell.
Come find us at a market. Wear the work. Tell us the story later.
Want to make something?
Every El Gato Montes piece can be made to your exact specifications. Choose your leather color, pick your stone, and we build it by hand. Start designing →