News Desk
Gavin and Jenn Ambrose, co-founders of artisanal marketplace, HLC Events, started their labors of love in a similar fashion as many artists: unhappy with conventional offerings, so they set out to craft their own. The result steadily bloomed into a multidisciplinary powerhouse, and today the Ambroses oversee a much larger operation that is taking the art of memory-making by storm.
Back in 2003, Gavin was on the hunt for a quality-made leather holster for his first defensive weapon, and after several rounds of failed discovery, it was clear that the only way to find an appropriate match was to map it out himself. Building upon a deep-rooted passion for leathercraft that first began as a child in a family friend’s hobby shop, Gavin soon began his own journey in self-taught leathercraft. After spending years designing and crafting custom pieces for friends and family members, Gavin poured even more of his energy into perfecting those techniques and expanding his skillset to include a variety of leather arts that united beautiful form with faultless function.
For many artists, the creative process is currency in keeping with growth and development, and while Gavin was proud of his work and the trades he had learned over the years, leather making came second to his primary line of work. It was at this junction that Gavin realized where the pivot had to break, and made the necessary adjustments to make his passion the one and only source of labor he supplied.
Finally, after years of polishing and perfecting, Hellhound Leather Co. arrived in the spring of 2018.
The Ambroses are locals of Wasatch Front, Utah, just north of Salt Lake City, where a supportive community of craftsmen (and women) deal in golden-age artistry that only gets better with time. Gavin and Jenn take pride in the pieces they create, keeping quality as the base ingredient for all of their projects. In fact, the Ambroses made the choice from the very beginning to employ American-made leather goods wherever possible, and while overseas production can save on costs, it ultimately comes down to handmade refinement, which can only be observed in the workshops at home. Hellhound Leather Co. continues to source the finest leather from US tanneries that prioritize top-shelf material over monetary gain, and that dedication to craftsmanship shines through everything the Ambroses do.
After witnessing the success of their homegrown leather studio, Gavin and Jenn expanded their repertoire and introduced HLC Events, an extension of Hellhound Leather Co., in 2021. This new iteration saw the arrival of additional art forms, including glass engraving and gold embossment. With these new offerings, the Ambroses entered a new frontier of experience-driven marketing strategies, and started setting up shop at weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and company functions. Even under the heat of COVID-19, this family-run operation kept the leather warm and sustained their mobile marketplace in the most challenging of times. In a poetic sense, HLC Events remained as strong as their leather, and the pandemic left a monogram as a reminder of the hard work that forms the base of their craftsmanship.
With 20 years of leathercraft experience and a swath of new artisanal trades leading the success of HLC Events, Gavin and Jenn are gently reminding us to appreciate timeless art forms and the work that goes into making a true memory. The Ambroses launched their humble beginnings with the intent of creating a filler in a cavity for creativity. What resulted was so much more than a filler, and has since blossomed into a dynamic business model that works surprisingly well in a post-covid world. Experiential marketing is the latest and greatest for industry professionals, but the careful craftsmanship that HLC Events supplies is a timeless affair that elevates even the most baseline scenarios. Leather crafting and glass engraving are the stuff of fairytale refinement, and while it’s difficult to imagine storybook situations like these, handmade treasures are warm to the touch and made with a special kind of passion that you have to see to believe. What began as a solution to a problem flourished into an outlet of self-expression, and Gavin and Jenn are bringing their labors of love to your next big event where memories become handmade.
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