Happy Friday Amigos,

Welcome to the next edition of JM’s Weekly Roundup. A quick hit of what’s new at La Matera and a few things that’ve popped up on my radar lately.

I’m writing this one from Maine, where we’re spending a few weeks visiting our factory and escaping the Texas heat for a bit. Not a bad trade: salt air, working harbors, old houses, rocky coastline, cold water, and the kind of light that makes everything feel a little slower.

There is a lot to like about a place that still feels shaped by use. Boats that work, bags made from old sails, restaurants built around what is close by, and a coastline that does not care much about being convenient. That is the thread for this week: a few American-inspired belts for the Fourth, an old copy of Endurance that caught my eye on the rental bookshelf, Maine oysters, a Portland brand giving old sails another life, and a Rachel Carson line worth carrying into the weekend.

TL;DR:

• La Matera Highlight: American-inspired belts for the Fourth: Corbina Stretch, Mendoza Woven, El Americano, and El Pez Americano. Red, white, navy, woven texture, and easy summer wear without turning the whole thing into a costume.

• Worth a Read:Endurance by Alfred Lansing: An old copy was sitting on the bookshelf at our Maine rental and got my attention. I’m about a quarter of the way through and so far it is pretty dang epic.

• Worth a Visit:Maine Oyster Trail: A useful guide to local oyster farms, raw bars, regions, and the people growing some of the best stuff coming out of the water up here.

• Brand I’m Eyeing:Sea Bags: Handmade in Maine bags built from recycled sails. Simple idea, strong execution, and a second life for material with some miles on it.

• Weekend Wisdom:Rachel Carson: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” - Rachel Carson

1. La Matera Highlight: American-inspired belts for the Fourth

Since I’m writing this one from Maine and the Fourth of July is right around the corner, it felt like the right week to pull together a few American-inspired belts. Not flag-costume stuff. Just good summer color, a little red, white, and navy, and pieces that feel right for cookouts, boat days, travel weekends, and whatever else the holiday throws at you.

The Corbina Stretch Belt is probably the easiest one to wear. Navy Italian stretch fabric, a khaki accent, cognac leather tabs, and enough give to make it comfortable if the day starts with travel and ends with a long dinner. The Mendoza Woven Belt brings the classic woven look: red, navy, and white tones with cognac leather, the kind of belt that makes a simple white shirt and denim feel finished.

If you want the more direct Fourth of July lane, El Americano and El Pez Americano are the two. El Americano has that traditional polo belt look with red, navy, and wheat embroidery, while El Pez Americano leans more playful with the fish motif and red, white, and blue stitching. All four have a little summer character to them, but they still feel grounded enough to keep wearing after the fireworks are over.

2. Worth a Read: Endurance by Alfred Lansing

There was an old copy of Endurance by Alfred Lansing sitting on the bookshelf at our Maine rental, and it got my attention right away. I have always liked finding a book that feels like it belongs to the place you found it, even if the story itself is about another edge of the world entirely.

I’m about a quarter of the way through, and so far it is pretty dang epic. It follows Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Antarctic expedition, which goes sideways in about every way a trip can go sideways, and somehow keeps getting more impossible. It is one of those stories that makes most modern inconveniences feel pretty small.

What has me hooked is the combination of adventure, grit, leadership, and the sheer will to keep going. Good rental-house bookshelf find, and a good reminder that some stories still grab you because they are almost too wild to believe.

3. Worth a Visit: Maine Oyster Trail

The Maine Oyster Trail is one of those practical little guides that immediately makes you want to build an afternoon around it. It connects local oyster farms, raw bars, regions, and experiences across the coast, which is a pretty good way to understand a place through what it grows and serves.

I like anything that gets you closer to the source. Food tastes different when you know where it came from, who worked on it, and what kind of water shaped it. If you are ever up this way, this feels like the right kind of rabbit hole to go down with a free afternoon and no real hurry.

4. Brand I’m Eyeing: Sea Bags

Sea Bags is based in Maine and makes bags from recycled sails. That is a simple idea, but it works because the material already has a life behind it. The sails have been out in weather, pulled by wind, marked up by use, and then turned into something that can keep going.

Hard not to appreciate that. It is practical, coastal, a little scrappy, and not overly polished. The best version of reuse is not just making something feel virtuous. It is making something useful enough that you would want it anyway.

5. Weekend Wisdom: Rachel Carson

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” - Rachel Carson

That one feels right from Maine. The older I get, the more I believe there is real strength in paying attention to the natural world, not in a precious way, just in a human one. A few minutes near the water, a walk outside, a good sky at the end of the day. It usually does more for us than we admit.

Alright, that’s it from me. I’ve got a date with the three Craddock ladies at a local lobster shack for lunch.

Appreciate y’all being here.

Cheers,
JM

Jon-Mark Craddock
CEO

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Originally published in JM's Weekly Roundup on 2026-06-26.