Craft & Culture

Chad Nordwall is the founder of Above Category, a world-class bicycle shop in Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. At AC, Chad has been a connoisseur and curator, shedding light on some of the most simultaneously technical and beautiful bicycles, components, and gear for the cycling community in the Bay Area and AC’s global clientele. In doing so, he’s also been a champion of elite frame builders working at the top of their craft in steel, titanium, carbon, and aluminum. Bicycles are fundamentally a means of transportation, but Chad and AC have shown over the years how bicycles can be a medium for cutting-edge technical development, elite craftsmanship, and artistic expression.

As AC readies to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, Chad joined me to talk about his beginnings in the sport, the state of handmade bicycles, the culture of cycling past and present, and his rapport with some of the legends of contemporary cycling such as Darren Baum, Dario Pegoretti, and Robin Williams. You can find Above Category on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/abovecategory/ and online at https://abovecategory.com

Sincere thanks to Chad Nordwall.

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Eric Steffen makes customs jeans and denim goods in Brooklyn. In 2014, he quit his job in investment banking to make jeans full time. Since starting Fitted Underground, so named because he was literally fitting and making jeans alone in a Brooklyn basement, Eric’s company has grown to include additional workers and interns, and he is now releasing seasons of ready to wear denim clothing in addition to maintaining the flagship bespoke denim offerings made on-site in Brooklyn. Eric is not only an excellent craftsman who makes fantastic jeans, but our conversations were critical encouragement as I began to lay the groundwork for Craft & Culture.

We discuss how Eric started in the craft, what makes a great pair of jeans and why they’re “the pants of the world,” what founding a bespoke clothing company takes, and why craft still matters in our AI future.

Sincere thanks to Eric Steffen.

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Luca Avitabile is a third-generation bespoke shirtmaker in Naples, Italy. His grandmother founded the family firm in 1948, which grew over the years as his father joined the company and Luca himself as well. After learning formal pattern making and working for other makers, Luca relaunched the family firm some twelve years ago. Today Luca runs his family shirt company, just twenty years shy of a century old, with one eye on tradition and the other on the future. Luca is also closely involved in Le Mani di Napoli, an organization devoted to supporting Naples’ craft traditions. You can find more information about Luca Avitabile both bespoke and ready to wear at https://lucavitabile.it and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lucaavitabile/?hl=enWe discuss his family history, what makes a great shirt, the incredible city of Naples, the future of craft in the Partenopean city, and what elegance is made of.

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Pierre Corthay is a bespoke shoemaker in Paris. As a young man, he joined the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France, France’s elite craft education guild to learn shoemaking. He went on to work at John Lobb Paris as well as Berluti, before founding his eponymous house, Maison Corthay, in 1990 at 1 Rue Volney. In 2008, he received the great honor of being named Maître d’Art (Master of Art) by the French Ministry of Culture. He recently returned to full time bespoke shoemaking under his new brand, Monsieur Pierre Bespoke, which you can find on Instagram at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/monsieurpierrebespoke/

We discuss his early days, education in a Rudolf Steiner school, learning the craft of shoemaking from the wooden lasts to the stitched uppers, the joys and struggles of building a company, and other matters of Parisian style.

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