Authentic Makers Program
T.Skies is the bridge between the bench and the brand.
A global fashion house can’t place an order with a single silversmith. Not because of the work — because of everything stacked around it: purchase orders, compliance audits, insurance certificates, packaging standards, and volume no one bench can absorb. We carry that side of it. The maker keeps the credit, keeps the pricing, and stays free to work with anyone.
Two programs, one mission
Behind the belts on the shelf are two distinct programs — one Ralph Lauren’s, one ours — working toward the same thing: authentic pieces, made by the right hands, in the right place.
The Authentic Makers Program — Ralph Lauren’s
The Authentic Makers Program is Ralph Lauren’s. It was created by Ralph Lauren, for Ralph Lauren and its associated brands, and T.Skies was chosen to help pilot it. Its purpose is to make sure every piece is authentically created — transparently, and in a historically accurate way — by makers from the culturally appropriate region the style comes from. You wouldn’t find a Southwest concho buckle stamped out in China. Under this program it’s made in the Southwest, by Southwest silversmiths, the way the tradition is meant to be carried.
The Bridge Program — T.Skies’
The Bridge Program is ours, hosted by T.Skies CoOp, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It connects local Southwest artists with ethically conscious fashion brands so they can work directly with individual makers — and T.Skies helps those artists scale their manufacturing to meet a brand’s demand, without anyone giving up their name. The Bridge Program is how a maker plugs into a brand program like Ralph Lauren’s Authentic Makers Program: we carry the compliance, the volume and the logistics; the maker carries the craft and the credit.
How the Bridge Program works
The audit is ours.
No global brand places an order without a vendor compliance audit — shop standards, insurance certificates, labor documentation, delivery terms. T.Skies is already an audited, compliant production partner. You don’t have to become one.
The volume is ours.
Brand orders arrive at a scale and on a calendar a single bench can’t meet. Ours can. Casting, finishing, quality control, packing and delivery to the brand’s specification all happen in our Albuquerque shop.
The credit is yours.
Your name goes on the work. Named-maker credit isn’t a courtesy in this program — it’s a requirement of it. The whole model is built on makers being known, not on anonymous supply.
The terms are yours.
You price your own work. You keep the right to sell it yourself and to work with anyone else. Our margin is stated up front, in a number, before you commit to anything.
Common questions
What is the Authentic Makers Program?
The Authentic Makers Program is Ralph Lauren’s. It was created by Ralph Lauren, for Ralph Lauren and its associated brands, and T.Skies was chosen to help pilot it. Its purpose is to make sure every piece is authentically created — transparently, and in a historically accurate way — by makers from the culturally appropriate region the style comes from. You wouldn’t find a Southwest concho buckle stamped out in China; under this program it’s made in the Southwest, by Southwest silversmiths.
What is the Bridge Program, and how is it different?
The Bridge Program is T.Skies’ own program, hosted by T.Skies CoOp, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It connects local Southwest artists with ethically conscious fashion brands so they can work directly with individual makers, and T.Skies helps those artists scale their manufacturing to meet a brand’s demand. It’s a production and compliance bridge: we take on the vendor audit, the purchase-order terms, the insurance, the packaging standards and the volume that stop most independent makers cold, and the maker does the work under their own name, at their own pricing, with no exclusivity. The Bridge Program is how a maker plugs into a brand program like Ralph Lauren’s Authentic Makers Program.
Who is the Bridge Program for?
Independent Native and Indigenous silversmiths in the American Southwest whose work is ready for a global brand but whose shop isn’t set up to satisfy one. That gap is almost never about craft. It’s about paperwork, capacity, and deadlines — the part we’re built to absorb.
The work is in stores
The two programs met on the Polo Ralph Lauren belt line, built with Ralph Lauren through its Authentic Makers Program, with T.Skies’ Bridge Program carrying production. The concho hardware is cast in our Albuquerque shop — sand cast and lost-wax cast in bronze, then plated in sterling silver — and finished belts are carried by Ralph Lauren, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Mytheresa.
“…created in partnership with T. Skies, an artisan collective that employs and supports Indigenous creators in the American Southwest.”
— Ralph Lauren, on its own product page
The partnership is documented on the brands’ own product pages:
- Ralph Lauren — Leather Concho Belt
- Neiman Marcus — Polo Ralph Lauren x T. Skies Vachetta Leather Belt
- Bloomingdale's — Polo Ralph Lauren Leather Concho Belt
- Mytheresa — Polo Ralph Lauren Leather Belt
For the New Mexico Creative Industries grant record and additional coverage of this work, see our Press & Recognition page.
Work with us
Makers — you make. We’ll handle the rest of it.
If you’ve been told your shop is too small to supply a brand, that’s the exact problem the Bridge Program exists to solve. Tell us what you make.
Brands — Southwest silver, audited and delivered.
If you’re sourcing Southwest silver and leather and you need it produced to spec, documented, compliant and on your calendar — with the makers credited by name — start here.