Kale Miles:
Vintage Love
Written by Yvette N. Coleman
The vintage stylish collection of handmade leather
belts was born from the lack of quality accessories
on the market. Bill Miles and partner launched Kale
Miles in 2007 after a trip to Italy found to be
uninspiring when it came to men accessories, which
were found to be poorly made and cheap or expensive
with just a designer name. Kale
Miles was conceived as a resource for exceptional,
hand-crafted accessories for men, with distinctive
designs and beautiful materials.
The series of luxury handmade belts use metal
from 1950’s and 60s classic cars. “We
both love leather and metal in all facets.
We love design. Beautiful cars marry beautiful
design with excellent metal and leather details,
so the association came quite naturally. Further,
we thought, by using the metal from these discarded
classic vehicles, we elevate them and give them
another life. The rough one-of-a-kind quality
fits in with our aesthetic of rough-hewn elegance.”
Using leathers for the world’s oldest and
finest tanneries, Kale Miles is driven by its passion
for the art and heritage of belt making and its
vision for creating extraordinary product that reflects
the individualistic
expression of the stylish
man. They have given the men’s
accessory category an offering of meticulously crafted
workmanship. Each belt has a history, personality
that the wearer will appreciate; Kale Miles is for
the man who knows quality and loves detail.
What do you think will be the trends for
2008?
Authenticity - - a desire for something unique,
not from a chain-store, not from big-name designers.
A toned-down aesthetic; glam-rock has been popular,
but is waning. The newer undercurrent is a more
streamlined design, but not geometric and “slick.”
Bracelets are becoming very big for men, and Kale
Miles’ cuff collections are on the front of
the design curve—organic, but masculine.
Look for Kale Miles’ full collection that
will include new designs of belts for dress wear,
cuffs and the possibility of a women’s collection
- - to our surprise, women are buying our products
for themselves already!
