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At the entrance of Mr. Espedito Seleiro’s workshop (his full name is Espedito Veloso Carvalho) there’s a sewing machine. “It belonged to my grandfather and has always been here to sew the garments for the cattle herders, the saddles, all the beautiful things. I think it came from very far away. My grandfather was a saddle maker (seleiro), so was my father, and I learned from them. I was born in Campos Sales (CE), in 1939. Life was hard, it was never easy, but we were always able to make a living from leather. I have six children and all of them work with me because there aren’t many jobs around.”
Mr. Espedito has around eight apprentices, teenagers whose parents have asked him to teach the profession, “Because they were lazing around with nothing to do.”
“To be honest, nowadays no one wants saddles anymore. Cattle herders want motorcycles. No one wants a hat. The true herders are rare.”
The patterns he uses are almost medieval and have a clear source. “My father used to make the outfits for the legendary bandits Lampião and Maria Bonita. Lampião was the first Brazilian fashion designer, he used to draw the patterns and my father would make them up. And I continue to do it. Lampião was very intelligent. Today we make sandals, bags, wallets and every once in a while someone will order a saddle, or a glove for lassoing cattle. Those are great things to make, but people have little time for them.” |
