The Larsen Group

Circles of Change:  Conversations with Dr. Zara Larsen

 on Change Leadership and Career Fulfillment

November 5, 2008

“The Hands of an Artisan”

Guest: Toyo Gilman

Anchoring Points: 

1. Dark Star Leather is named after a curiosity with black holes in space during the 1960’s – dark stars.  We started as a sandal shop in the 1970’s, moving from my childhood bedroom shop to a concession spot on 4^th Avenue, to our first leather shop on University, and ultimately the new, upscale center at Plaza Palomino in 1986.

2. My father was a woodworker and he taught me an appreciation and respect for handcrafting – art with function – and over the years gifted me many tools of the trade.

3. My education came through trial and error, experimentation using (and still using) the basic manual tools of leather working and being open to new ideas that come from within or “in the front door” from our customers and suppliers.  While my shop is a controlled mess, it all happens here.

4. What has set Dark Star apart for over 35 years is:
• We focus on one-on-one customer interaction with 95% of all of our customers to understand their needs, often customizing the products and sharing product stories.
• We stay true to how I believe the products should be made – belts, handbags, wallets, and briefcases – with authentic Southwestern designs, high quality leathers, exotic materials for inlays and overlays, buckles, silver conchos and semi-precious gemstones.
• The manufactured products we carry are the result of 25 year relationships with other artisans, just like our suppliers of leather and silversmithing.
• Our staff, artisans and sales professionals, have longevity together – even across generations – to partner, design and fine tune orders.
• We are proud, although always a bit surprised, to be a destination spot for visitors to Tucson.

5. Our journey continues most definitely as an evolution, not to any set direction or plan for change per se, but sticking true to being a real leather shop where customers can see and interact with the craftsmen and “feel” our store – a very visual and tactile experience – with the smell of leather.

6. I find inspiration everywhere, in particular from the Native Americans.  My passion to create for others in leather comes really not from the tools, as much as it does from my hands.