Lion’s Den

Krister Jung, the owner of Lejonkulans Läderhantverk, started working with leather in 1973 on a kibbutz in Israel. Between 1974 and 1975, he attended the Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney, London, a leather college for saddle makers and shoe designers. He took the course "General Leather Goods", which covered cutting, designing, pattern making, and bag making, as well as training on all the machines used in leather crafting.

Krister's first workshop was in the Old Town of Stockholm.

"I started it in 1976 with two friends," Krister says. "We made handmade clogs that we sold to tourists so we could travel during the winter seasons."

The shop was so small that they needed a bigger workshop with more space for all the equipment they had to use. The move came at a fortuitous time, as the story about the plans to kidnap the Swedish Minister of Justice, Anna-Greta Leijon, had just been revealed, and the trials against those involved were underway. The premises where Anna-Greta was supposed to be held prisoner had been taken over by one of our brothers-in-law, who didn’t need it. So we moved in and told the story to the elderly leather salesman Klint, who calmly said “now you’ve got yourself a real lion’s den”. That simply settled the problem with the name of the shop – The Lion’s Den. We’ve now been situated in Sickla Köpkvarter, Nacka for 5 years.

Krister's main focus has been on saddlebags and motorcycle gear since 1983-84, but that's not all he does. He also makes things like braided bracelets, leather-covered wardrobes, and special designs for other companies. So no two days are ever the same.