Sporting a Glad & Young handbag is the ultimate “Where did you GET that?!” conversation starter. Since 2015, co-founders Anna Zietz and Erica Tankesley have set out to infuse the monochromatic leather industry with playful, personality-packed bags and accessories. This Atlanta-based design studio dreams up and handmakes fun-loving leather goods shoppable online, in their Ponce City Market shop, and even at Anthropologie.
Creative endeavors before Glad & Young
Anna and Erica’s journey is more than just a side hustle-turned-career tale. Even before becoming close friends, the pair was wielding complementary skills: Anna with her design acumen and Erica with her textile tactility. Anna grew up with creative, entrepreneurial parents. “My mom and dad are screen printers and sign makers who work from home,” Anna says. “My chores as a kid would be scrubbing sign boards, peeling sandblasting tape, or printing and folding shirts.”
After a stint in Chicago, Anna returned home to Atlanta and went to school for graphic design. “I lived the agency life, and while I loved it, I was eager to find a more tactile creative outlet,” she says. Erica is a seamstress by trade and comes from a long line of seamstresses. She has always loved sewing heavy-duty fabric and worked on custom upholstery projects for various industries before finding leatherwork.
The beginnings of the South’s funkiest leather brand
Anna and Erica met in Atlanta’s food/beverage/hospitality industry while bartending at neighboring bars. “We had a lot of late-night ‘hopes and dreams’ type conversations,” Anna says, “and both of us had a shared dream to create things with our hands for ourselves.” Glad & Young started as a creative outlet and side project, but from the beginning, the duo knew their collection would lean toward playful and colorful. “It’s just who we are,” Anna adds.
During Glad & Young’s infancy, they found most of the handmade leather goods were black, brown, and natural … and made mainly by men. “Finding color and pattern was really challenging, and still is, to an extent,” Anna says. “That’s why we started marbling and speckling leather, painting our strap edges teal, and adding scalloped edges.”
Where did the name come from?
The name Glad & Young comes from the E.E. Cummings poem, You shall above all things be glad and young. “It embodies the ethos of the brand and really resonated as we were getting started,” Anna says. The name continues to act as a guidepost for Anna and Erica as they decide on products, details, and brand identity.
Anna explains that functionality is and will always be Glad & Young’s primary focus. Their products are designed to solve problems, and then they make that functionality look charmingly unique. From a quality standpoint, they want their customers — whom they’ve cutely deemed “Gladdies” — to pass on their favorite pieces to their grandkids. Nothing is ending up in a landfill on their watch.
Clearing up some common leather misconceptions
As genuine leatherworkers, Anna and Erica are often asked if they do or plan to carry vegan leather. “Phew, Lord!” Anna remarks about the concept. “Kudos to pleather for having the best rebrand of all time, for real.” Jokes aside, they’re supportive of consumers making decisions for themselves based on lifestyle, especially considering how tough it is to remain sustainable in our world. Fast fashion impacts our planet and, sometimes ironically, our wallets.
“It’s important to remember that vegan leather is just plastic that will fall apart in no time,” Anna adds. “Our leather is a byproduct of the meat industry, and a bag will literally last you a lifetime. In the world of Shein and Temu, where you spend your dollars truly matters. We encourage anyone who has the means to find brands making things with intention.”
Glad & Young’s Atlanta locale colors and nurtures business
Anna and Erica love being in Atlanta and sharing the local scoop with others. “The creative community here is so supportive, and we have been championed by our friends and network since year one,” Anna says. “It feels like there is a genuine joy to see others succeed, and we really think that’s unique to the South. When someone from Atlanta has a win, we all win. We all cheer.”
The Glad & Young shop sees a lot of tourist foot traffic through Ponce City Market, but telling shoppers all of their favorite Atlanta gems never gets old. “We get excited every time. Southern hospitality seems cliché, but it’s real!”
Opening Glad & Young’s flagship brick & mortar
We asked Anna if there was a moment in her journey as a business owner that she looks back on with pride. “The road to opening our own store was like a long rollercoaster,” she tells us. “So, every time I walk into the store, it really does feel surreal. Yesterday, I overheard a customer say, ‘It’s so happy in here.’ And the way I secretly beamed with pride cannot be overstated. Having a physical space where any person can come to shop and leave feeling creative, celebrated, and treated with kindness — that is a dream come true.”
Before we sign off, take a peek inside their process:
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Thank you for chatting with us, Anna! Visit Glad & Young on your next ATL jaunt, or shop online at GladandYoungStudio.com.
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