It's something that you should be wearing.

You should live in it.

And it should tell that story of your life.

It's like this personal journal of experience.

I'm Savannah Yarborough and we are

at the Atelier Savas studio.

One of the first pieces that I designed

when I was working for a bigger company

was a leather jacket.

It was really like flat and wasn't interesting at all.

I took the sample home.

I put it in my bathtub and I wore it while it dried.

It molded to me.

It was different from putting on anything else

that I'd ever had.

I met people in the factories that were actually making

these jackets and I learned a lot from those people.

So whether it's a $200 leather jacket

or a $10,000 leather jacket, it's gonna last forever.

It's gonna change every time they wear it.

It it rains, you're gonna be okay

and your leather jacket's gonna look

five times better when it dries.

The first phase of making one of our leather jackets is

meeting with the client, select the leather that they want,

any embroidery or specific details that they might also

wanna add, and we actually draw out the jacket for them.

After that, we take 32 points of measurement.

With the word bespoke, the person who's

taking your measurements is also the person

that's with your piece the whole way through.

I'm making the jacket that you will be wearing.

Physically, myself, I can only make four jackets a month.

The second phase, is to create the paper pattern

based on the measurements.

These two dimensional pieces that will

then be put together to create the actual 3D jacket.

The armhole and the shoulder, that's the most complicated

place to fit and I've developed a really great pattern

to be able to adapt it for each person.

It's a really really beautiful armhole.

As a designer, that's the first thing you

look at when you look at a jacket or a coat.

Like how beautiful does that sleeve hang.

We make a fabric version which is basically a mock up

of what their leather jacket will be.

There's always some sort of tweaks that have

to be done before we actually cut.

Once the needle goes through the leather,

you can't take back that hole.

There's always gonna be a hole where the needle was.

When I sell a leather, when they pick their skin,

that leather is no longer gonna be available

to any other client.

Oh, I saw my friend Joe and he was in this really cool

red leather jacket, I want that jacket.

I want that leather.

I won't sell it to you.

We will find you another red leather

and you will have your own one-of-a-kind piece.

The jacket that I'm wearing is this really

buttery soft calfskin.

There's silk lining in it.

A western yoke detail here.

Silver zippers.

When people feel it, they're like,

"Oh my gosh, what is that?"

The third step involves cutting.

We lay out all of the skins.

We examine each skin for any nicks or holes,

any scratches that we may not want on the jacket.

Some leathers are more distressed already

and they show natural grain from the animal

and so you want that in the jacket.

How are all 50 of these pattern pieces gonna actually

fit into these hides that are all different sizes.

Each one was a different animal.

The embroidery, it's a lot of fun and it's something

that we offer most specifically on the linings

of everyone's jackets and give people an opportunity

to have this like very personal interior detail

and it can be anything; their nickname or an illustration.

It's this private detail that no one knows about

because it's on the inside of their jacket.

The fourth step in the process of making a jacket,

you have to do things like stabilize certain areas

like the waistbands, the cuffs, and the collars,

scything the leather if it's too thick;

basically cuts the thickness of the leather in half.

It gets rid of the bulk so that when you have seams

to fold over, it doesn't add really any extra

to that which allows the seams to actually lay flatter.

It's really just a matter of like getting all

of the pieces ready to be sewn.

The fifth phase is where we actually sit down

and sew the pieces together.

It's not necessarily, okay we're gonna sit down

at the sewing machine and it's all gonna be done.

You sew one seam and then you have to iron it flat

and roll it out and glue the seam so

that everything stays really flush and flat.

We just moved into our studio downtown Nashville.

It's in a neighborhood called Pie Town

which is in a very up and coming area.

I've been here for three and a half years.

I've lived in London for five years

which is where I studied.

I've lived in San Francisco.

I grew up in Alabama.

There's a spirit about Nashville

that it's just really great.

Within the few years that I was here,

I felt this growth happen and it's still happening.

There's no second thought in my head

of anything else I would rather be doing.

There is a leather jacket for everyone.

That's why I'm here; is to basically help create these

pieces that even if it's someone who has never

been able to envision themselves in a leather jacket,

like we can make that jacket.

The most important part of identifying one

of my jackets is the visible logo

which is stamped in 22 carat gold on each jacket.

The second is the fit, especially when viewed from the side.

I create this very specific curve on every jacket that I do.

Slightly higher in the back

and it drops really beautifully down to the front.

And then, we deliver the jacket.

Leather jackets always look their best 10 years

after you've had them.

The most beautiful thing to me on a leather jacket

when I see someone wearing one, is the creases in the arm

because the elbow like stretches out, but you can really

just see like now that, you know, I've been wearing this

one, it's always got this really beautiful crease going on.

Every experience that you have in that jacket,

something evolves in that material.

It's like modern day armor 'cause it gives you this

like confidence that you really don't get

from any other piece of clothing.

You put on your leather jacket and you feel

like you can walk out the door and take on the world.