About Gusti Leather: Our History - Our Passion
Inspired by a Journey – Created for the World
Gusti Leather was born from an idea that took shape while traveling. Our founder, Christian Pietsch, wanted not only to create beautiful and practical products, but also to make a positive difference—for the people who craft our products and for the environment that belongs to us all.
Today, we’re known for handcrafted leather bags and accessories that are timelessly beautiful. Our designs blend tradition and modernity and tell stories from around the world.
Our commitment: Durable quality, well-thought-out designs, and close collaboration with our producers. Each product tells its own story and captivates with exquisite craftsmanship, elegant colors, and high functionality. With our passion for leather, we create products that never go out of style—for people who appreciate something special.
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Our Mission
"Create fascinating and innovative leather products that make you look stylish and keep you on trend."
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Our Vision
"We strive to become a highly productive and effective organization by promoting fairness and transparency in the workplace."
Our Goals
A significant portion of our revenue currently still comes from products made with chrome-tanned leather. We know that this type of tanning is viewed critically. That’s why we’re actively committed to using more chrome-free leather in the future. In doing so, we ensure that the chrome content is very low—no more than 0.1% of the dry weight. At the same time, we plan to increasingly rely on vegetable-tanned leather that meets clear standards for tanning.
Our second major goal is to reduce our reliance on traditional online marketing strategies and instead focus more on alternative ways to reach you. To that end, we want to increase our presence in more and more city centers. Pop-up stores are a great way to strengthen our presence in various locations. These temporary shops help us increase brand awareness and reach more and more customers who love leather and make it their trusted companion. By establishing a stronger presence in city centers, we aim to create unique shopping experiences and share our philosophy about leather products even more widely with you.
Our Values
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Adaptability
Adapting to changes and responding to them quickly
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Organization
Maintain ethical conduct in the workplace, be punctual, and fulfill obligations on time
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Communication
Promote teamwork and collaboration through clear communication
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Reliability
Maintaining Integrity in Our Professional Conduct
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Improvement
Promote employees' professional growth through knowledge sharing and collaboration in the workplace
Philosophy in Practice
Gusti Leather stands for transparency in production and careful use of materials.
Leather – We process only hides from animals raised primarily for meat production or breeding. In this way, we repurpose a byproduct to create high-quality leather goods.
Transparency – Our production processes and supply chains are documented in a traceable manner. We place a high value on fair working conditions, clear standards for materials, and compliance with legal requirements.
Discover our product lines
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Gusti Leder nature
Our first brand was Gusti Leder nature. Our collection of bags in this category consists mainly of vegetable-tanned Goat leather.
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Gusti Leder studio
The company's second product line is Gusti Leder studio. These unique products are made primarily from buffalo and cowhide leather and are tanned using the chrome tanning process.
Gusti Leather – Here for You Online and In-Store
Our products are available through all major online and offline channels. Through our e-commerce platforms, we offer our product range directly to end customers in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other countries worldwide.
You can also visit our stores in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands to experience our leather products firsthand. In addition to shopping, you’ll find our DIY corner, where you can bring creative projects with leather pieces to life—design handmade, one-of-a-kind items like keychains or small bags exactly the way you want them.
Christian Pietsch
CEO, Gusti Leather
You founded Gusti Leather about 14 years ago. What are you most proud of?
You founded Gusti Leather about 14 years ago. What are you most proud of?
I'm proud of the team because it has managed to tackle many different issues and improve our products. And yes! That's especially important for our customers.
You visit India very often. Why do you do that?
You visit India very often. Why do you do that?
Because it's important to get a firsthand look at the situation—both with our manufacturers and with our team—by meeting in person.
So, your manufacturers are in India?
So, your manufacturers are in India?
Yes, in India, just as in Italy, and we've recently added a few producers in Pakistan.
Can you name at least one thing?
Can you name at least one thing?
I'd say that 60–70% of our revenue currently comes from products made with chrome-tanned leather. That's harmful to the environment, which is why our goal for Gusti Leather is to use chrome-free leather in the future. Although we already use 40% vegetable-tanned leather, we aim to be completely chrome-free by 2024.
What are your short-term goals for this year?
What are your short-term goals for this year?
We’re also currently working on a number of small projects. For example, we’ve reduced the amount of plastic in our products and completely eliminated plastic bags. Instead, they’re now shipped in paper bags. But then we learned that even paper isn’t sustainable. So it’s best to receive them as plain leather without any packaging. Now we’re trying to coordinate this with our distribution channels.
What would you like to accomplish in the next few years?
What would you like to accomplish in the next few years?
I want to make Gusti less dependent on online marketing. For us—and for me—paying Google or Facebook for advertising is very unsustainable, even though we have to do it right now. So I want to have a stronger presence in the city center.
Do you slaughter animals specifically for their leather, or are these materials already available on the market? And do you have these raw materials?
Do you slaughter animals specifically for their leather, or are these materials already available on the market? And do you have these raw materials?
No animals were killed for our leather—not specifically for our leather. You can see that in our prices. For example, when a company sells a handbag made of crocodile leather, those bags cost 500–600 euros because the animal was killed for its skin. We, on the other hand, use waste from the meat industry. When we receive this waste, it allows us to offer affordable and sustainable products, since leather—as a byproduct of the meat industry—can be considered sustainable.
What has Gusti accomplished so far?
What has Gusti accomplished so far?
I’d say the biggest thing we’ve achieved is specializing in a niche. We really started out with fashion items like backpacks and found our niche. And I’m really proud that we’ve committed so fully to bike products—something I don’t think I’ve ever officially mentioned. But three years ago, I went through a pretty tough time and found motivation in bikes. Now, being successful with our bike products is really—well, if you ask me—one of our greatest achievements.
What do you like most about Gusti Leather in general?
What do you like most about Gusti Leather in general?
I don't think there's just one side to Gusti Leather. It has many different facets. We have all our stores, where our store managers and team members work every day and do their best to improve, create, and sell. Then there are other parts of the company—for example, on the logistics side—where the focus is on improving processes so we can ship our products faster. We’re trying to respond to our emails more quickly and, in another area, repair as many items as possible.
