Located in Long Island City, Portchester USA is a manufacturer of handbags and leather accessories. Last week I made my way from Brooklyn to their manufacturing facility and Kulwant, the owner of Portchester, gave me an insightful tour around the factory. He gave me a rundown of all of their equipment which gave me an understanding of how they turn raw materials into finished products. Kulwant has been in the leather goods business for over 30 years and has worked with many of New York City’s top designers. He is currently producing a line of products for Logan Zane, a high end NYC based apparel and accessory designer.

When I arrived, Kulwant was working with a designer revising a handbag sample. Kulwant has a very “can do” attitude and seemed pleased to accommodate all of his client’s requests.

Much of the equipment they use to prepare and stitch the leather is hard to find today, as Kulwant explained.

Kulwant has been in business long enough to see manufacturing trends move offshore, but has seen a pattern of brands and designers making a push to have their products made domestically in the last 5 years. According to Kulwant, there are a couple factors responsible for this shift: not only is it not that much cheaper to get products manufactured in Asia, there is also a stigma against products made cheaply in Asia due to quality issues.

Check out Portchester’s Maker’s Row profile to learn more about what they make and how they can help your brand.