Primitive man already used animal skins to cover himself without obviously any chemical treatment. The first method of “tanning” was born unconsciously to counteract the putrefaction. It is said that the first documents on tanning date back to 1250 B.C., but it is only thanks to the romans that various tanning techniques were developed. The most important turning point was in the 19th century.
Since that time the tanning industry, mainly the Tuscan one, is considered a world leader for the various techniques and technologies. Today the leather district is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, each of them specialized by type of processing and by product destination. From the point of view of quality, the Italian product, but specially the Tuscan one, is considered the first in the world.
As for the leather masters (the first present since the 1300s) they carried out their trade on the banks of the Arno river and then moved to Piazza Santa Croce, where via delle Conce and Via dei Conciatori still exist. Over the centuries, the profession of these Florentine workers has increasingly refined becoming the flagship of Tuscan craftsmanship. By the second half of the 18th century the leather district had extended to 20 municipalities among the provinces of Florence, Pisa and Arezzo. It is in Florence that leather goods reign supreme with artisan workshops scattered around its province. In the center of Florence it is very easy to immerse yourself in one shop and another.
VEGETABLE TANNED LEATHER
The tannery, which provides us vegetable tanned leather, is in partnership with “Consorzio Vera Pelle conciata al Vegetale”.
This gives to the leather more value and quality.
The most beautiful peculiarity of the vegetable tanned leather is that the more is old the more is beautiful. Also the colour shade changes during the years thanks to the tannins. The bag made of this material becomes different during the years. It acquires the vintage style. It is important to remind that each leather is different to the others and it’s this characteristic that makes the leathers unique and fascinating.
This is the main power of our leather.
CERTIFICATIONS
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Silver rated Audited Against LWG Standards
Our leather provider, which is classified as Category C -Raw Hide/Skin to Finished Leather, has been audited against the Leather Working Group Environmental Auditing Protocol Issue 7.2.1 |
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ICEC – Sustainability Certification
Our leather supplier complies with the requirements of step 2 of the Technical Specification for the use of Vegetable tanned leather in Tuscany for management system of environmental obligations, health and safety in the workplace and social responsibility in relation to production of vegetable tanned leather. |
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE GENUINE VEGETABLE TANNED LEATHER?
Nowadays it is more difficult to identify products made with genuine leather, so we advise everyone to have a good look at the product to avoid buying bags with low quality leather or even leather-like materials. Follow these rules to identify a product made with quality genuine leather.
- If a product does not show VERA PELLE/REAL LEATHER or if it does and has a low price, there is something wrong.
- Genuine vegetable tanned leather shows veins and pores on the surface, look for imperfections and remember that they are a good sign, it is still animal skin so each product is unique. If the veins are regular and symmetrical it can mean that it is a poor quality material.
- The edges of the genuine leather are uneven and have natural fringing and fraying. The faux leather has precise and regular edges.
- If folding the leather slightly changes color or lightens to the main color, it means that it is leather of excellent quality.
- Products made of genuine vegetable tanned leather have a fairly high price, so be wary of this who say they sell quality leather products at reasonably prices. Remember, you pay for quality.
