(Cate Havstad-Casad, founder of Range Revolution with her son | Photos courtesy of Range Revolution)
“Range Revolution is the world’s first luxury leather goods company built entirely around regenerative agriculture principles,” said founder Cate Havstad-Casad. “We’ve created what didn’t exist before: a traceable supply chain that sources hides directly from American ranches that monitor for ecological outcomes, and transforms them into heirloom-quality bags, luggage and accessories.”
Havstad-Casad was only 22 years old when she founded her first entrepreneurial venture, Havstad Hat Company — “an obvious career choice when you’re making no money as a wrangler and trail guide in Sisters, Oregon.” But after a decade of building custom western hats for music icons like Shania Twain, and exhibiting across the U.S. and Japan, she “hit a wall.”
In Havstad-Casad’s words, “I wanted to use leather that mirrored how I live the rest of my life — local, sustainable, connected to this land. But that leather simply didn’t exist. As I dug deeper, I uncovered a staggering reality: over five million hides are thrown away annually in the United States alone.”
Meanwhile, Havstad-Casad continued, “Most leather in our fashion supply chains can be traced to Brazil, and is comprised of deforestation by-products. This wasn’t just a supply problem — it was a systemic failure that violated everything I believe about ethical production and land stewardship. I couldn’t unsee this disconnect. I wouldn’t accept it.”
And that’s how Range Revolution came to be. “Since incorporating in 2021, we’ve been building a regenerative, regional leather supply chain from the ground up,” Havstad-Casad said. “It’s been more than creating beautiful products — it’s been about forging direct relationships with ranchers, finding tanneries committed to responsible processes, and growing a company where every decision centers on regenerative outcomes: economically, socially and environmentally.”
Range Revolution’s clientele primarily comes from the U.S., “which is where we’ve focused our marketing efforts through avenues such as an online presence, including Instagram,” Havstad-Casad noted. “We do an extremely minimal amount of paid advertising.”
“We have our best traction through in-person activations — examples being privately-hosted salons; music festivals; and a 10-day Cowboy Christmas Gift Show in Las Vegas that occurs simultaneously with the town’s annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.”
As a result of activities such as these, “our wholesale distribution is definitely growing, with sales up 117 percent over last year,” Havstad-Casad said.” It takes time to grow this category, primarily through trade shows, and learning what these customers are looking for — everything is cumulative.”
She added that “Word of mouth has also proved very powerful, and I’m honored and grateful for the early adopters of our products who have followed my work.”
Havstad-Casad described two major developments in the evolution of Range Revolution: “Until this year, we were focused on building a direct consumer band. We’re now also selling through other fashion brands that order material from us (e.g., 2,500 square feet of leather) to build their own products.”
“We’re also streamlining our transportation logistics,” she continued, “and went from shipping in pallets to aggregating full truckloads in 2025. This resulted in an overall improvement in efficiencies — proving that sourcing leather is economically a smart business move — and makes a mass market scale feasible.”
As Havstad-Casad summed up: “Range Revolution is committed to turning discarded hides into enduring pieces of functional art. Design at its best can be an agent for change, revolutions can be beautiful, and businesses built for circularity are the future.”
