Today we’d like to introduce you to Levi Martinez.
Hi Levi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We started handcrafting leather goods four generations ago. My great grandfather begins the leather craft in our family. The leather craft was carried on by my grandfather who distributed and hand-made leather shoes all over Mexico. My father, Jose Martin, Founder and Designer at Orox crafted leather goods in our hometown Oaxaca, MX, Japan and now in Portland, OR. We are a true family business, each family member involved handles different aspects of our business.
We have a team of artisans in our workshop in Old town, Portland who handcraft each of our leather goods, ensuring their quality and uniqueness to each of our leather goods.
Our goal is to handcraft leather goods that will look more beautiful with use and will last you for your whole life journey. We do this in order to ensure you don’t create more waste with goods that are made to be thrown out. Our goods are made to last and to be passed down through generations.
We have a long-standing retail shop and workshop in downtown Portland where anyone can experience the leather aroma at its finest. You may browse or collection of leather goods while peaking over to our production floor where you can see all of the artisans at work actively making every piece on the sales floor.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
We are a family business that has been self-taught. We have had much help from partners and colleagues throughout the years. Yet, growing a business and finding the right clientele has always been a challenge with learning curves. Our most recent obstacle and true test was our COVID year, we struggled to keep the shop open, having enough men power to continue to produce and reaching people online in a competitive market while seeing our retail traffic numbers die down.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a leather craft by family trade, I am part of the 4th generation continuing our leather craft passion. I was born in Oaxaca, Mexico where I got to experience my grandfather lead his business with the rest of my aunts and uncles. I graduated with a business degree specialized in Logistics from PSU. While in school, my father and I began the planning of our business, every course and task that related to the organization of a new business was directly applied and used for the formation of Orox Leather Co. I am very proud for being able to sustain the trade in the family and now being able to train and teach our craft to new artisans. We are proud to have a product that goes agains the fast fashion, overconsumption and waste in our world.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
We have had much help from family members such as fathers-in-law and spouses who support our business by allowing us to spend endless hours working, cheerleading for the brand and testing our products. We have also received much support from multiple local organizations such as OMEP, Prosper Portland and Built Oregon. Of course, our wonderful customers have been our strongest supporters over the years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oroxleather.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oroxleatherco/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@oroxleather
Image Credits
@dear.hector
