Meet the new cobbler in town who specializes in everything from fixing Gucci shoes to horse saddles

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the Fall Issue of Refined Magazine, a luxury sister publication of (614) Magazine. This was written by Melinda Green and photographed by Cheyn Roux. Read the full article here!

Mike Leach of Clintonville Cobblery, newly located at 3269 N. High St., knows the value of luxury goods and the value of stitching together their history—figuratively and literally. As a cobbler, they not only create lovely bespoke shoes, but they ensure other leather pieces are in excellent condition for years to come.

Quality leather is a commitment. Whether it’s shoes, bags, a jacket, or even a car seat, upscale items are meant to stand the test of time, even if they need a little extra TLC.

Leach can make you a pair of shoes, but they also can repair almost any leather item that comes into their shop. It isn’t always easy—but it’s the right thing to do, they emphasized.

“If it’s luxury goods, or, really, anything of good quality, you want to keep it around as long as possible. It’s something you should invest in instead of just wear out and throw away,” Mike explained.

And often, these customers also marvel at Leach’s equipment, most of which is 80 to 100 years old. “The older stuff is beautiful and, you know, well built. It still does its job 80 years later,” they said.

But almost all high-end goods need repair at some point. Designer shoes are among Leach’s favorite items to repair, and probably the most common item in their shop.

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“With luxury footwear, what you’re paying for is basically the material of the upper and the intricacy of the pattern, and the soles and bottoms are usually not so great. It’s usually finer materials, thinner soles, you know, things that aren’t meant to be worn a lot. People tend to buy them because they like them. You’re like, ‘Oh, I got these Gucci loafers and I love them and I just wore them into the ground’—because they’re not meant to be worn that way,” Mike explained.

But Leach makes the repair the way the owner wants. “With most things, I try to get it as close to the original as possible, unless they specifically request something else, like something more durable. That happens pretty frequently, actually: ‘I want something a little more durable.’”

On the other end of the spectrum are bags, with a much different degree of challenge, such as sourcing a new lining for a vintage Louis Vuitton. Repairing shoes can take from an hour for a pair of heels to a month for a full rebuild of handcrafted cowboy boots. Bags, though, can take around two months if significant disassembly is required.

And then there are the less traditional requests. “I’ve worked on saddles. I’ve walked out to someone’s car and stitched their car seat,” Mike said, laughing. “Lots of dog leashes. I’m rebuilding 2 stools right now.”

Check out other incredible Columbus Classics in the Fall Issue below:

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