About

Fratres is a leather working company dedicated to creating beautiful, durable goods out of full grain leather.  The name, Fratres (frah-tres), which is Latin for brothers, is inspired by the familial and spiritual brotherhood with which we have been blessed throughout our lives.  It is especially inspired by the brothers, St. Crispin and St. Crispinian, who are the patron saints of leather workers.  

Saints Crispin and Crispinian were twin brothers who were born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD.  They fled persecution for their faith and ended up in the town of Soisson in Gaul, working as cobblers during the night to support themselves so they could preach and aid the poor during the day.  They were later beheaded for their faith. 

As a family and a company we hold in reverence and remembrance the example of the Fratres de Soisson - St. Crispin and Crispinian. The founder and chief craftsman, Father Tait Deems, is convinced that bringing order and beauty to the world is an act of worship. Craftsmanship has always gone hand in hand with ministerial labor - from the Medieval monks to Joseph the earthly father of Jesus Christ. We are a band of brothers striving to do all things excellently for the glory of God.

“And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remember’d; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”  Shakespeare - Henry V