A Boot Collector Feature
A Bulgarian-born menswear designer who taught pattern-making in San Francisco now hand-tools boots and leather goods out of Whitefish, Montana.
Milen Krastev grew up in Varna, Bulgaria, inspired by American Western films and Native American art, and got his start in the early 1990s by reverse-engineering designer clothing frame by frame off VHS tapes. After earning an engineering degree from Bulgaria's Naval Academy, he moved to San Francisco in 1999 and later earned a master's degree in menswear design from the Academy of Art University, where he went on to teach draping, cutting, and pattern-making — and met his American wife, Jenny. The couple ran a custom tailoring shop in New York's garment district before Krastev discovered a Tandy leather store in Palo Alto in 2005, which pulled him into leather tooling, starting with custom motorcycle seats for bikers. While living in Germany from 2015 to 2018, he taught himself bootmaking through online tutorials, eventually launching Mad Leather as a home-based, coast-to-coast business now rooted in Whitefish, Montana.
Hand-tooled cowboy boots, jackets, belts, and bags built from veg-tanned Hermann Oak leather and exotic skins. His work has appeared in films including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Magic Mike XXL, and Zoolander II, and on television including Saturday Night Live and The Get Down, with past clients ranging from musician Sting to Navy SEALs.
A tailor-turned-leatherworker whose boots have made it to film and TV.
Pairs from smaller, custom, or long-closed makers rarely come up for sale, so this search may not find anything. It’s worth checking back now and then.