Made in America: Shinola Brand Gets a Reboot

Housed on the fifth floor of the Detroit’s Albert Kahn-designed Argonaut building—the original home of the General Motors Research Laboratory—an ambitious upstart called Shinola handcrafts Swiss-style watches, leather goods, notebooks, and bicycles "made by bike people for bike people." In partnership with the city’s College for Creative Studies, an art and design school that traces its roots back to a craft society formed in 1906, Shinola aims to help bring industry back to the beleaguered city and, eventually, earn a 100-percent-American-made stamp. (The brand name may ring a bell, since the company borrowed it from Shinola shoeshine company, popular in the early 20th century.)