Graf Lantz: Carrying On With Style & Substance

From their tossled chic look to their jobs as self-employed product designers in an L.A. factory where they live and work, partners Daniel Lantz and Holger Graf are the epitome of cool.

The best part is they're too self-effacing (and frankly, busy) to know it. For almost a decade, the couple (who married in 2008) have run Graf Lantz, which grew from a cottage industry in their apartment to a thriving business with 20 employees, including designers, a full production team, dye presses and an impressive new leather-splitter, a sophisticated machine that cuts leather into thin slices, one of only three in Los Angeles.

Neither studied to be a product designer. Munich-born Graf earned a doctorate in structural engineering, while Lantz (a former Mormon, more on that later) spent a decade in Japan, first as a language instructor, then as a farmer, before returning to the States.

The two were fixed up by mutual acquaintances when Lantz was on a business trip in Munich. "I was the only gay person they knew," Graf adds. After a few years of international dating, Graf landed a job in California but hated it. Then the couple formed their company, a small product design studio dedicated to making sturdy bags and household items out of often unappreciated materials.

Their personal and professional relationship works, they agree, because of the yin/yang flow of their relationship. "We're exact opposites and we've learned to integrate that into what we do," says Lantz, the more outgoing of the pair. This dichotomy is reflected in their work-creative, left-of-center pieces that are also highly functional. Though different, they share a love of being "on the table" making things, Graf adds.

Their bags for men and women, as well as a range of household products, are sold in locations ranging from Neiman Marcus to small clothing boutiques to kitchen/home stores and the gift shops at MoMA, the Guggenheim and other museums. "For us, big box stores are worth staying away from," Lantz adds.

From large totes down to tassels and Wine-Os (tiny multi-colored felt rings for tagging wine glass stems), Graf/Lantz strives to use every inch of felt, leather, suede, canvas, denim and other materials. "We don't throw material away," says Graf. "It's the economics of necessity."

The factory in L.A.'s Silverlake neighborhood is in an older brick building, once a supermarket. "It has great molding on the outside," says Lantz. "Inside it had an open brick space with a concrete floor that we could make into anything. So we made it a factory and blocked off a section and made it our loft."

Graf points out that during the day the couple's love nest serves as an office for their staff.

Heart Felt

"The whole handmade aspect is what we're about, although our products are not specifically old-fashioned," says Lantz. "We're about taking good things from the past."

Felt, one of their core materials, dates back thousands of years. "Felt is essentially animal hairs piled on top of each other and then smashed," says Graf. "The harder you pound it, the harder it becomes."

Durability always comes first. "We want our pieces to age beautifully," says Lantz. "When we go to New York for a trade show, we see people who bought bags from us years ago who say, 'Still using it!'"

The Wisdom of Shokunin

Lantz is a big believer in the Japanese concept of shokunin, loosely defined a 'craftsman' or 'artisan.'

"I loved Japan. They tried to send me on a Mormon mission there, but I ran away and ended up staying 10 years," he says. "I got a student visa and started an English school. Then, at 23, started a farm. That experience taught me the values I bring to business, [especially] how to treat people."

Next up for the duo: nylon. They're designing a series of men's bags for Spring 2018 made from Italian nylon. "Bags have always been tools for us. So we're making these to last," Lantz says.

"We strive to do business and live our lives with persistence," he says. "I hope we can inspire people to step out on a limb once in awhile."