Tufts & Batson

Gabe Batson is the founder of Tufts & Batson, a St. Louis–based studio devoted to the revival of old-world craftsmanship through modern forms. His work—bridle leather goods, luxury suitcases, bamboo fly rods, and canoes—embodies a philosophy of la dolce vita, permanence, and poetry.

With a background in fine art and engineering, and an apprenticeship under a legendary bamboo fly rod maker, Batson’s approach is both precise and instinctive. Drawing from the aesthetic lineage of DelaHaye roadsters, Goyard trunks, René Herse bicycles, and Hermès saddlery, his pieces echo an era when speed meant elegance.

But beneath the tweed, fine leather, and hand-shaped wood runs something more elemental: a belief that beauty, properly made, resists time. “It's like a memory of something yet come to pass.” Presented under the Tufts & Batson atelier, Batson’s work doesn’t follow trends. It recalls something deeper. 

Forsyth is thrilled to welcome Batson's work to our collection. We have many ideas and collaborations yet to come.