Our Story

Sundance Sheepskin and Leather was established as a family business by Barry & Jean Anderson in 1971.  Now, almost 50 years later, we pride ourselves in still being a small family owned and operated business.  We hand make all of our products in a small workshop in our small Colorado mountain town of Guffey.  Since 1976 we have been marketing our products at juried arts and crafts fairs, as well as running a mail order business, and entered the digital age around the turn of the millennium with the introduction of sundanceleather.com. In 2011 we expanded our retail marketing to include a physical store in Buena Vista, Colorado, run by  daughter Corey and her husband Scott.  Learn more about our retail store at www.sundanceandfriends.com.  With the death of founder and father Barry Anderson in 2018, his son Dylan and wife Jean have stepped up to continue to offer the full product line from the Guffey location, and continue to make top quality sheepskin and leather products from the finest US materials.


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Our products

Each and every one of our products is handmade by the Anderson family from the finest American materials. The quality and comfort of our products reflects the care that goes into each and every thing that we make. Since the beginning we have been designing, wearing, and improving our products with comfort and durability in mind.

Our materials

Although many of our materials are available at a lower cost through overseas suppliers, it is important to us to support and buy from American and local suppliers whenever possible. All of our sheepskins come from cold climate Colorado, New Mexico, and Western US sheep that have a superior, thicker pile and create a warmer, more comfortable and more durable product. The American techniques and standards for tanning also produce a much higher quality of sheepskin and leather, and conform to strict EPA guidelines that help protect the global environment. Buying from Sundance not only supports us, but local sheep ranchers as well. There are a few exceptions to our 100% US materials; The crepe rubber sole option available on many of our products has to be imported from Asia, as the raw materials do not exist in this country. Also, our outdoor rubber sole is made for us by a small injection-molding company in Mexico.

Green Business Practices

The Sundance family is committed to doing what we can to help the environment. We realize that the shoe industry is not the most environmentally friendly industry, but here are a few of the things we are doing to make a difference: 

  • We have eliminated the toluene based adhesives from our product lines and have gone to a natural rubber based glue with stitched on techniques. Healthier for us and for the environment.
  • We buy only US materials tanned locally, thus eliminating the huge amounts of oil required to ship materials from China and other parts of the world and reducing the “carbon footprint” of producing our products.
  • The US tanneries that we use are subject to much higher environmental standards than their foreign competitors.
  • We re-use cardboard boxes for all of our shipping and recycle anything we can.
  • We ship all orders using UPS Carbon Neutral shipping to offset the environmental impacts of shipping.
  • All of the Guffey Sundance Family lives within walking distance of our workshop! And the Buena Vista Family lives above the retail store.
  • Our workshop is a highly efficient, passive solar design with wood heat.
  • We are looking into the feasibility of installing an active solar and wind powered electric system to power our workshop - we’ll keep you posted on the progress.
  • Our retail store in Buena Vista is partially powered by a full PV solar array on our roof - taking advantage of the sunny Colorado days!
  • Creating products from sheepskin is using an otherwise wasted byproduct of the wool and lamb industry. Sheep are not raised solely for their skins.
  • We are always looking for new ways to improve our practices and reduce our impact on our Mother Earth.

So, put on your warm fuzzy Sundance Sheepskin Slippers and turn down the thermostat!

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