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.
What the Authentic Makers Program is
What is the Authentic Makers program?
The Authentic Makers program is a production and compliance bridge that lets an independent silversmith supply a global fashion brand without becoming that brand’s employee and without losing their name. T.Skies co-created it with Ralph Lauren. We take on the parts of a brand contract that stop most independent makers cold — the vendor compliance audit, the purchase-order terms, the insurance, the packaging and delivery standards, the sheer volume — and the maker does the work they would have done anyway, under their own name.
Does a maker give up any rights to work with T.Skies?
No. There is no exclusivity. Working with us on one project doesn’t close any other door, including selling the same work yourself or taking a commission from another brand next month. You set your own pricing. T.Skies takes a stated production and compliance margin, and you see that number before you agree to anything.
Who is the 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 — which is the part we’re built to absorb.
How the bridge 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.
The work is in stores
The program was built with Ralph Lauren, and the work is in stores. The concho hardware on the Polo Ralph Lauren belt line 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 this 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.