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Leather 101

Updated: Jan 5


There is a lot of terminology and jargon thrown around when discussing leather – genuine, top grain, vegetable tanned, chrome tanned....unless you're a leather crafter, it's unlikely you're familiar with what many of these terms actually mean. It’s difficult for consumers to know what they’re buying without that knowledge and all too easy to end up with inferior products that don’t hold up how you might have expected them to. Knowing some of the basics will help you make informed choices, whether you’re concerned about quality, durability, ethics, or even how to properly care for your leather pieces. I’ve put together this quick primer to help; I do generalize a bit, in order to keep it brief, but I’ve included what I consider the fundamental basics.



Starting with the Source


Cowhide is one of the most commonly used hides for leather apparel and accessories – as a byproduct of the meat industry, it is readily available, and it makes one of the toughest, most durable leathers you can buy. All of the leather used in Culte du Cuir’s products are made from cowhide – this is due to its superior durability, look, and feel. Cowhide's durability is only surpassed by buffalo hide, but cowhide is generally softer and offers a more smooth, uniform grain than buffalo leather, making it the better choice for Culte du Cuir’s leather goods.




Leather Types


This is a particularly important piece for consumers, as this is where many people are often fooled when they purchase leather goods. When you hear ‘genuine leather’, you likely feel positively about it – but with leather, genuine doesn’t just mean ‘real’. Technically, ‘genuine leather’ refers to a specific layer of hide, and while it can be used to indicate that something is real leather, it's more frequently used to deceive consumers. Often bonded leather (made of small bits of real leather that are glued together into a sheet – i.e. the particle board of leather) is labeled ‘genuine’, since technically speaking, it IS made using some leather. More on bonded leather later…


The illustration below shows the layers that make up a hide, with the top being the outermost layer.


The highest quality leather is the topmost layer – called ‘full grain leather’. This layer is made up primarily of the leather ‘grain’, and has the finest fibers, the smoothest texture, and offers the greatest durability. The leather’s grain provides gorgeous surface texture, and it actually improves with age, developing patina over time.


The next level in terms of leather quality is called ‘top grain leather’. This leather has some of the leather’s grain on its surface, as the name implies, but also contains deeper layers of the hide, where the fibers are more coarse and less durable than the grain. Top grain leather is decent quality, although it isn't as durable as full grain, and it doesn't develop patina with time and use.


Next is ‘genuine leather’ or suede. This refers to leather made up of corium, or the deepest layer of the hide, just before the flesh. The corium is coarsely grained and the least durable layer of leather.


Then there’s bonded leather, which is made up of leather bits, often from scrap, typically held together using polyurethane. While there are benefits to bonded leather – primarily that it reduces waste by using up scrap leather and offers a significantly lower cost – it’s often labeled ‘genuine’ leather, due to the fact that it does contain leather. This is intentionally deceptive and fools a lot of people who think they’re buying something made from a continuous piece of hide. Polyurethane breaks down with use and even just when exposed to sunlight – and so bonded leather degrades much faster than a piece of leather hide. You won’t get the durability or longevity typically associated with leather with bonded leather. This is also often referred to as composite leather or reconstituted leather. The surface is usually textured so that it can be hard to tell it apart from other leather – the smell of the polyurethane often gives it away, however.


Culte du Cuir’s pieces are all made using exclusively full grain leather. Quality and durability is the focus of this small business, providing accessories that will hold up to wear and last for decades with care. It also serves the brand’s focus on sustainability, by extending the use of each piece.





Leather Tanning Methods


The last thing I'll cover on leather basics is the tanning process. Hides aren’t technically leather until they are tanned. Tanning is the process of treating hide in order to preserve it. Humans have been tanning leather since ancient times – using methods still used today. Hides were soaked in concentrated solutions containing tannins, which were derived from tree bark and certain plant leaves.


Vegetable tanning refers to this method of tanning – and it’s still used today. Vegetable tanned leather is the most durable and often has a firmer feel than other methods. Vegetable tanned leather is the most ecologically friendly method since it doesn’t rely on the use of chemicals in the tanning process. The process of vegetable tanning is time consuming, however, which is why newer methods were invented to speed up the process. This increased speed comes at a cost, which is why vegetable tanned leather offers the highest quality, and so tends to be the most expensive option.





Chrome tanning uses chromium sulfate to preserve the hide – a process that takes considerably less time than vegetable tanning. The resulting leather is durable but doesn’t age in the way that naturally tanned leather does; it doesn’t soften or develop patina over time, and the overall lifespan of the leather is not as prolonged. Chrome tanning has a bad reputation due to the environmental impact of the chemicals used. The process has been improved a lot since it’s invention – but outdated and irresponsible practices are often used, especially in the developing world countries, where workers are also often exploited and exposed to chemicals that are hazardous to their health, in addition to the harm to the environment. Chrome tanning in Europe and in the US is highly regulated, and not as bad for the environment, but the process still has a long way to go. Chrome tanned leather tends to be the least expensive option.





Oil tanning uses vegetable, animal, and fish oils and results in a strong leather that is also soft and supple from the oil. The pros: it’s softer than vegetable tanned leather right out of the gate, whereas vegetable tanned leather usually needs some breaking in. It’s also less expensive, in general, than vegetable tanned leather. The cons: it doesn’t match the durability of vegetable tanned leather, and it's not as eco-conscious as vegetable tanning either. Because it’s so rich in oil, which gives it its buttery feel, it doesn’t take finishes as well as leather tanned with other methods (like glossy finishes). Much like vegetable tanned leather, it can develop patina. Oil tanned leather is generally slightly more affordable than vegetable tanned.


Culte du Cuir uses primarily vegetable tanned leather - specifically Italian Vachetta leather, which is a specialty vegetable tanned leather renowned for the beautiful way that it ages. Vachetta leather has gained a lot of recognition in recent years, due to several luxury brands using it in some of their pieces; for example, the piping and straps on Louis Vuitton's signature bags are made using Vachetta leather.