My name is Ishai Duiker, I live and create in Israel and I am the owner, designer and creator of Ishaor. Ishai was a biblical figure, the father of King David, who lived in the city of Beit Lechem, the same place where Jesus Christ was born. I adopted this name, Ishai, after I came to live in Israel but I was born as Gerrit Duiker in Holland. Duiker, my last name, is the Dutch word for sea diver and I come from a long heritage of Dutch seafarers. This actually led me to my first encounter with handmade crafts. At the age of 10, my father, a captain in the naval fleet, took me with him on a ship he commanded, sailing to the exotic city of Casablanca in Morocco. While walking with my father in the old city, I was intrigued by the craftsmen we passed by and I felt a strong attraction to their work and watched them crafting the leather. It was then I held a knife and a piece of leather for the first time and tried to cut out and curve a creation of my own. It changed my life. I started working in leather after quiting my job and decided that I want to do something else in my life something that I create myself. I made some bracelets and a few belts and sold them on Queens day in Amsterdam, where I noticed that people like my creations. I had never studied professionally or even taken any courses, which is probably the reason that my work, as I am told, seems different from most of the traditional leather wear. I developed by trying my own techniques, used tools and colors according to my imagination and can now say that I now feel I have my own original style. I use simple hand tools and make each piece by hand out of a large full grain leather skin. I sell my work in some high end boutiques in Israel, and on several platforms online, as well in my workshop in the Florentin neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. After thousands of sales and 5 star reviews I stand behind my creations, and offer a lifetime guarantee. My inspiration comes from anything that has a interesting structure,from computer parts to motorcycles, bold, screws. It took me about 30 years with several turnarounds in my professional life, to return to this constitutive moment in Casablanca, to this first love, and commit to the profession of leather craftsmanship. Today my products are sold at the Nachlat Benyamin Art Fair in Tel Aviv, on ETSY and in selected fashion boutiques in Israel and abroad. Ishaor’s leather products currently include belts, cuff bracelets and hair barrettes but there are more to come in the near future. All products are designed and crafted by myself including most of the leather belts metal buckles. You’re invited to a virtual tour of my workshop in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG7ieiwJhTk. As any artist, I enjoy getting feedbacks on my designs from customers but the most surprising and interesting feedback I get are on my logo which I spontaneously created with the initials of my born name, Gerrit Duiker (GD). Apparently, people who see it interpret the shapes and the letters in different ways and actually some of my products are a result of theseunique interpretations which they share with me. I strongly believe that wearing my accessories lets people express their passion, stand out from the crowd and make a statement about who they are and what they believe through unique colors, symbols, shapes and designs. I hope you’ll find yours. With Love, Ishai.