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Christian Brooks
Leather artist, designer, custom craftsman
Dallas leather artist Christian Brooks has been honing his craft for almost forty years and has produced art and leatherwork for designers and musicians across the Southwest, in addition to numerous national and international artists. His years of creating custom-designed articles for his leagues of customers has built his reputation as a rare find in today’s mass production culture—a true 21st century craftsman. Brooks’ desire to compose distinctive items for his discriminating clients, as well as the retail trade, has forged him the knowledge and experience to deliver exactly what his customers want.
Among Brooks’ most visible pieces of work is the black “SRV” guitar strap featured on the cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Live From Austin Texas video and DVD jackets, the back cover of the A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn DVD, and numerous other photos and artistic renderings of the singer-musician. (Of a more recent note: the March 2004 cover of Guitar One Magazine) Created as a gift to Vaughan that became one of the late performer’s favorites, the concho and leather-tasseled guitar strap was a standard during the latter part of Vaughan’s career, shown frequently attached to his treasured Number One guitar. Jack Chase of Sony Music Company commissioned Brooks to produce 50 replicas of the famous strap that were used by Sony as gifts during its (Stevie Ray Vaughan) “Tribute Tour.”
Brooks has also created custom-patterned guitar and instrument straps for such luminaries as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, and Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks. Most recently, his leather portfolio has included an individually-honed harmonica guitar strap for musician Kevin Deal and a made-to-order harmonica strap for Joe Jonas, noted Dallas harmonica player and vocalist. An additional entry in his repertoire is a line of leather-embossed personal items specifically commissioned by members of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
But guitar straps and the like aren’t Brooks’ only trademark. His portfolio includes specialty items for personal use by Stanley Korshack and his daughter, and for Texas Monthly photographer Jim Meyers who ordered a pair of initialed biker gloves for then Texas governor Ann Richards. Brooks also fashions hats and scarves and animal skin furniture embellishments for Dallas-area wholesalers, while new to his studio are the individually designed memento pieces, such as pillows and purses, created from customers’ out-of-date mink stoles and other similar cast-offs.
Most prominent of all his works, however, is what he considers his specialty—The Original Boot Products line. Reviving an earlier 1970 concept, for the past fifteen years Brooks has forged purses, checkbook covers, billfolds, money clips, bags, and lamps from recycled western boots, giving his customers unique, one-of-a-kind gems that will stand the test of time.
Through the years, Brooks has been either featured or listed in both local and nationally read periodicals which include Texas Highways, Playboy, D Magazine, and Esquire Gentleman, and in the Dallas Observer where he was named as “best boot repair” for the area in the same publication’s “Goods & Services” listing. He was featured in the “Fashion Dallas” section of the Dallas Morning News in August of 1992 and later in its Dallas Life Magazine Sunday insert, highlighting Brooks as the local leathersmith manufacturing Dallas’ best boot bag. Additionally, he was part of the team that produced a 1977 Clio Award-winning leather design for the Dallas-based Dr Pepper Company.
Brooks’ eclectic talents also include numerous logo, promotional poster, and T-shirt designs for his clients. Through the years, he has penned original conceptions for large and small enterprises in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, as well as for music and charity events in Texas and New Mexico. Most recently, he generated the retro guitar logo for Alligator Records blues singer Michael Burks, and he is in the developmental stage of an upcoming product line featuring, among others, Brooks’ original caricature, “Cowboy and His Dog.”
A sole proprietor for more than 20 years, he renamed and then re-opened his leather business in a new location in 1990. For over six years, Brooks and his Deep Ellum-based custom leather, boot and musical memorabilia shop, Blues Suede Shoe, were a staple in the trendy downtown Dallas area. Brooks catered to both upscale and walk-in clients while he expanded his product line, and continued to meet numerous vocal artists and musicians who passed through Dallas during that period. Following his stint in Deep Ellum, a five-year hiatus to New Mexico allowed him the time to pursue a handful of newly discovered interests, as well as provided him with a vision to pattern and produce fresh artwork.
Currently shaping leather, fabric, and fur creations from his Dallas design studio, Brooks also offers custom t-shirt design and production, original art and graphic work, and custom leather repair. Continuing to produce his popular and established specialty line, the pieces are frequently showcased at musical, fraternal, and charity events around the DFW-Metroplex, while a sampling of his guitar straps and other musical gear is available at Larry Morgan Music in Garland, TX. With the soon-to-be-complete offering of Internet sales the Christian’s Custom Leather-Blue Suede Shoe line is on target to include customers from all corners of the globe.