Rusty Dorr

In her remote catskills studio, rusty dorr handcrafts native american and western inspired jackets, cutting, punching, and lacing every garment by hand, as she has for 44 years.

Rusty Dorr grew up in a small town in the countryside of upstate New York with science minded parents who imparted their daughter with a solid work ethic. In her family, Dorr explains, everything was practical and connected to nature and the outdoors.

“My family could all draw and make things,” she remembers. “That’s how I spent my time as a young person.” In addition to creativity, ingenuity was fostered. “If it needed to be done, you probably could figure out how to do it.”

That can-do, entrepreneurial spirit is hard-wired into Dorr, a self-taught artist who has been handcrafting Native American and Western-inspired outerwear and accessories for 44 years. Dorr’s products are made from the highest quality deerskin, moose, buffalo, elk, as well as Spanish lamb, sheared beaver and a limited number of wild coyotes.

Dorr hand-braids the seams of her pieces with hand-cut deerskin lacing and adorns them with precisely-cut fringe and beautiful buttons made of bone, horn, antler and silver. She also uses well placed hairpipe and beadwork to give her one-of a-kind, unisex pieces a distinguished look.

“I have clients who’ve told me that when they feel down, they put on one of my jackets and they feel good, they feel ready for the day and for that power meeting they have to go to,” reveals Dorr. “It just makes them feel empowered; I know I feel better when I put mine on!” Dorr defines her customers—many of whom have become collectors of her work—as kind, considerate, inquisitive and keenly aware of their place in the natural world.