About Maple Leather Company

The origins of Maple Leather Company and GreatBags® can be found in craftsmanship and skills passed down from generation to generation. Seymour Mondshein / Lisa Martin started making bags at the age of eleven in the back of his father’s Maple Fur Shop in Newark, New Jersey. Abraham Mondshein was a European-trained furrier and Holocaust survivor who loved to have his son in his workshop after school. Through trial and error, plus coursework at both F.I.T. and Parsons School of Design in New York City, Seymour’s designs have evolved to the many different styles and collections that you can see today. The couple met when Lisa came to New Jersey to be the Textiles artist-in-residence at Peters Valley Craft Center, and the rest is history.