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Daniel Skinner makes custom clothes that last by MARINA BROWN
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eamstress? Definitely not. Tailor? No. Seamster? Not quite right, either. So, what do you call a talented creator and stitcher of bespoke clothing who is also a man? The answer is most assuredly Daniel Skinner. Presiding over a bright and barely tornado-touched establishment in Railroad Square’s Art District, the 33-year-old proprietor of Skinner American Goods can be found most days, including on weekends, bent over one of 13 sewing machines in his clothing “atelier.” From the initial measuring and fabric cutting to the mock-up try-ons, every handmade shirt, jacket or pair of jeans is meticulously handled by Skinner in his wondrously messy space. Walking among the machines, the rolls of hefty denim, the spools of thread — sometimes four of them attached to one highly complicated industrial sewing machine — the handsome father of two talks about how he came to love sewing and making unique creations for unique individuals. “I certainly didn’t grow up sewing,” he laughed. As a boy from Lake City and the Gainesville area,
86 November-December 2024 TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM