Graf Lantz
- Headquarters
- Los Angeles, CA
- Manufacturing
- Los Angeles, CA
- Categories
- cookware-and-kitchen · leather-goods-and-bags · home-goods
Graf Lantz was started in Los Angeles in 2008 by Holger Graf, a Bavarian structural engineer, and Daniel Lantz, whose design sense comes from years in Japan. It began with a roll of thick merino felt — the material of the beer coaster in every Bavarian tavern — and an industrial sewing machine, and grew into a studio and factory in a century-old former grocery store on West Temple Street in Silver Lake. Coasters, trivets and placemats are still the core of it; bags, desk pads, bins, trays and seat cushions in the same felt, edged with vegetable-tanned leather, are the rest.
The cutting and sewing is Los Angeles work. The brand says so on every felt product page, its careers page puts “all items” in the Silver Lake factory, and the Los Angeles Business Journal calls the company a Silver Lake-based manufacturer outright. What is not made here is the felt itself, and the felt is the product: it is milled by two factories in Bavaria from wool grown in New Zealand, South Africa, South America and Europe, and US import records show it arriving at the Temple Street address from a German mill. A coaster that is German felt cut and finished in California is the second mark as the tier is defined — final assembly here, the principal material from abroad — and that is where the whole felt range sits.
The limit is the edge of the felt. The Maru clogs say “Made in Mexico”, the Haus alpaca blankets and throws say “Made in Peru”, and the cotton net totes and face masks say nothing about where they are made at all. None of those is listed here. If the product page says merino wool and “Made in USA”, it is the Los Angeles work described above; if it says alpaca, cotton or clog, it is not.
The record
The brand says it designs and produces in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles with local partners
“We design and produce in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, where a tight-knit team and a circle of trusted local partners have been making things together for years.”
graflantz.comRetrieved
The careers page says every item is made in the company's own Los Angeles studio and factory
“All items are made in our Los Angeles studio and factory based in Silver Lake.”
graflantz.comRetrieved
The merino felt goods carry a "Made in USA" line on their product pages
“Made in USA”
graflantz.comRetrieved
The merino felt is milled in Bavaria, not in the United States
“The Merino wool felt is exclusively produced by two factories in Bavaria, where they have been perfecting wool felt for over 100 years.”
earthhero.comRetrieved
US import records show the company receiving felt from German mills
“HS 56 - Wadding, felt and nonwovens, special yarns; twine, cordage, ropes and cables”
panjiva.comRetrieved
Independent confirmation that the company is a Los Angeles manufacturer
“Silver Lake-based home products manufacturer Graf Lantz is in growth mode, debuting a new product line and expanding into other markets.”
labusinessjournal.comRetrieved
The clogs are made in Mexico and the alpaca blankets in Peru
“Made in Mexico”
graflantz.comRetrieved
Products
- Where to buy
Bedford Merino Wool Belt Bag
- Where to buy
Bierfilzl Merino Wool Square Coaster 4 Pack
- Where to buy
Frankie Merino Wool Tote
- Where to buy
Kawabon Leather/Merino Wool Small Tray
- Where to buy
Merino Wool 8" Round Trivet
- Where to buy
Merino Wool Oval Placemat
- Where to buy
Mosen Merino Wool Medium Desk Pad
- Where to buy
Zabuton Merino Wool Round Seat Cushion
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