Taiwan’s heritage scene, from workwear to biker, is booming, and there’s no better place to see that than at the annual Ride Free convention, held over one day in New Taipei City. This year we visited Ride Free 7, organized by Free Biker magazine, and popped into the numerous booths staged by brands, shops, and motorcycle companies.
Stores with booths present carried an impressive number of brands, from The Real McCoy’s and its sub-brand Buco to Sugar Cane, Orgueil, Iron Heart and many up-and-coming brands.
SFK Goods and the W & Anchor Bros
Kurt Chen of Faith Co. was on hand with his own brands, SFK Goods and The W & Anchor Bros. His series of bags, wallets, key hooks and more are done in a ’40s and ’50s style, though often with modern twists and high quality veg tan leather, including black tea core, as well as heavy duty canvas and selvedge denim.
Anviology and Borderlands
Graphic designer and silversmith Sean Tseng, of Taiwan, has recently started his own silver jewelry lines Anviology and Borderlands. The former largely focuses on Native American-inspired designs, including feathers, conchos, and nana, while the latter is more modern and incorporates many twisted metal designs.
Leatherworks Zipangu
Founded in 2008, Taiwanese brand Leatherworks Zipangu specializes hand tooled leather, from belts and wallets and everything in between. Many of its products are made with American Hermann Oak veg tan leather.
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Addict Clothes
Japanese biker fashion brand Addict Clothes was on hand to show its latest collection of leather jackets and engineer boots in collaboration with Taiwanese shop May Club.
Monolith
Taichung-based silver artisan Kurt of Monolith, a one-man brand, was in attendance and brought some of his very fine Native American-styled silver, gold, and turquoise creations, including bangles, rings, and conchos.
Indian28
More stunning silverwork, this time from Taiwanese artist Chen Yu-Yi who also works in Native American-styled silver, crafting intricate squash blossoms, chains, pendants and more.
Marvelous
Newcomer Taiwanese brand Marvelous had some of their wares on display, including handmade leather bags and wallets, and scarves made out of indigo-dyed vintage fabric from East Africa.
