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About

It started with a strap I didn't like.

Been a avid and passionate gym goer for years, I had to deal with the the usual straps: a long strip of cotton you wind round the bar every set, on both hands, and again on the next set, clunky, not easy to use for beginners and don't get me started if you happen to use a machine with rubberised handles, nightmare!

I wanted something I could thread my hand through, wrap once, twist and pull. Nothing like it existed in the UK, so I decided to make it.

I have very limited craft skills. With help from my sister I cut and sewed the first prototype from a piece of webbing and a scrap of leather. It was rough, but it worked, and it proved the idea.

Then I went looking for someone who could make it properly, in leather. I searched the web and wrote to every maker I could find who did custom straps. One person replied: Mert Güvenç, in Turkey. He understood the idea straight away, and the strap you can buy today is the result of that conversation.

- Fabian Adler

The first prototype: green webbing loop with a stitched leather patch
The first prototype, sewn at the kitchen table with my sister.
The maker

Nine generations of leather.

Every strap is made by Mert Güvenç and his workshop in Turkey. For the Güvenç family, leather is not a trade they picked up. It is a heritage passed down through nine generations of tanners, shoemakers and leather makers, and Mert grew up in the middle of it, surrounded by the smell of leather, the workshops and the craftsmen.

Today he carries that knowledge on under his own brand, RedPardus, combining what the family has learned over generations with a modern approach to design. Our strap is one of the things that came out of it.

A member of the Güvenç family testing leather at a bench
From the Güvenç family archive.
Members of the Güvenç family inspecting hides at the tannery
At the tannery. From the Güvenç family archive.
  1. Earliest knownEyüp Güvenç

    Worked as a leather tanner during the summer months and served as a wrestler for the Ottoman Sultan during the winter.

  2. His sonAli Güvenç

    Ran a tannery producing vaketa and sole leather, and made traditional Turkish footwear: çarık and yemeni.

  3. The generations afterHide traders, shoemakers, bag makers

    The family trade grew into raw hide trading, leather manufacturing, shoe production and bag making, under names including Güvenç Deri Sanayi A.Ş., Trink Ayakkabıcılık and Trink Deri Halı.

  4. GrandfatherHasan Güvenç

    Dedicated his life to the leather industry.

  5. FatherAli Güvenç

    Studied Leather Chemical Engineering at the WestDeutsche Gerberschule in Germany, then ran production for the family business.

  6. TodayMert Güvenç · RedPardus

    Grew up in the workshops and now makes leather goods, including our strap.

Leather craftsmanship is not just a profession for us; it is a family heritage that has been passed down through nine generations.

Mert Güvenç

Designed by Fabian, made by Mert. Designed for the pull.

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