The Shelby Wallet was originally designed because I (Erin) wanted a wallet I could put my phone in. My goal was to have a super functional and matching accessory for our bags. Historically, our wallets were only made using vegetable tanned leather. This leather would match accents on our bags, but never actually matched the bag leather. The Shelby Wallet would become the first wallet made with chrome tanned leather to match our Totes!
I purchased a few cheap wallets that I liked, as far as size, shape, and function. In addition to the examples, we mixed elements of our Banker’s Wallet and Mary Ann Clutch – two of our older wallet designs. The sampling process for this wallet took about three months! After each iteration, I tried the wallet myself for a few weeks and gave some to friends/customers for feedback.
We tried different closure options and pocket configurations. Because we have a lifetime guarantee on everything we make, and to keep things affordable, production and serviceability must be taken into consideration. The process to make this wallet couldn’t be super difficult or time consuming. All Shelby Wallets, and other River City Leather goods, are designed and made in Ohio, USA!
After four rounds of sampling, we landed on the current Shelby Wallet! Another version, the Shelby Dean Wallet in our Decade Collection, has a zipper inside! This version was created due to several customer requests. The zipper version was so successful, we added that as an option to the Shelby Wallet on our website! Zipper or no zipper, that is the question!
