The History of Lagrange Leather
Lannie Bryant started in the leather business in the early 70's. Lannie taught himself the craft of creating leather products and started selling personalized leather key chains door-to-door. He was soon selling many of his crafts at various prestigious arts and crafts fairs throughout West Virginia.
Lannie's first store front was called Moontan Leather and spanned a period of 10 years. Moontan Leather was a clever mix of Lannie's leather crafts and eclectic jewelry. In the early 80's Lannie opened Lagrange Leather, which was a mix of hip western leatherwear. Once he saw his first investment grow, he decided to open up six more that operated for over twenty years. In 1987, Lannie was voted top 5 Entrepreneur Of the Year by Ernest & Young of West Virginia.
Babs, Lannie's wife, has been creating designs since the age of 12. Her designs started with simple evening gowns and expanded to full costume designs. She continued her designs throughout her college career. Upon graduating from the University of Charleston with her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Nursing she realized that her heart and soul was in the fashion industry.
In 1993, Babs had incorporated her own ideas and started selling at Equestrian events throughout the United States. The concept was to develop a traveling boutique which offered hip fashion-forward merchandise that would appeal to not only the equestrian crowd but to the general public.
Lannie came up with the idea of creating their own boot label when he noticed that at the end of the day many horse people were taking their boots off because they were uncomfortable. He knew that with his knowledge of boot wear, he could design boots that were not only comfortable to wear but a an affordable price. The trade mark label started with only 5 styles.
Their passion was to not only make customers feel confident about what they are wearing but to feel comfortable at a reasonable price. The Lagrange Leather brand has been a favorite among boot wearers for over 40 years.