Do you want to know why Italian leather is still the best?

A well-dressed man opens the door and welcomes you to the leather bag shop. You see several beautiful designs. It doesn’t take long before a woman in a black dress comes up to you and offers her service. You ask her about a specific item that you are interested in. The woman explains that this particular bag is extra good because it is made of Italian leather. Ah yes, Italian leather. Of course you will buy it. You have always known that it is the best. It is most definitely worth an extra premium price. Isn’t it?

If you want unique leather you have to search the world

In order to produce the seats to our butterfly chairs, we need very strong leather. Not only must the leather be able to hold the weight of a person; it must also keep doing so for many years.

To find this special leather, we have literally searched the world. We have seen everything from mass production tanneries to the fine vegetable tanneries in Argentina and in Tuscany, Italy.

Keep reading to know the results.

Why Good Leather Is Worth Every Penny

You need vegetable tanned leather

When you smell vegetable tanned leather, you are reminded of smelling a good wine. The wonderful aromas come from the natural tannins that replace chrome in the tanning process. This is the old way of making leather.

Vegetable tanned leather has longer durability

Vegetable tanned leather lasts much longer than chrome tanned leather. As a matter of fact, you will notice that it will seem new, even after several years. As I am writing this article, I am sitting in a butterfly chair that a friend of mine bought six years ago. It was made with vegetable tanned leather and I cannot see anything on it that makes it look old.

It requires passionately waiting for days

The reason why vegetable tanned leather is more expensive than chrome tanned leather is that it takes longer time to make. The natural chemicals are not as effective as the heavy metals, thus taking longer time. A longer process means a more expensive product.

But isn’t vegetable tanned leather made in many countries?

Vegetable tanned leather doesn’t necessarily have to be Italian to be superior. This particular chair that I am sitting in is actually made of Argentine leather. You can find very good vegetable tanned leather in many parts of the world. So why is Italian leather considered the crème de la crème?

Enter The Silicon Valley of Vegetable Tanned Leather

Visit Italian tanneries if you want to be fascinated

We went to Tuscany to find the best tannery in the world. To our surprise, we didn’t find a tannery! At least not the same type of tanneries that we were used to.

Normal tanneries try to do everything by themselves

The tanneries we have seen so far take care of the whole tanning process. As you might expect, the tanning process consists of many smaller steps that are usually performed in one single facility. A crude cowhide with meat and hair comes in. Out comes a nice vegetable tanned leather piece, ready to be turned into a bag, a shoe or a chair. If the tannery is weak in any of the smaller processes, the end product will suffer.

Italians outsource every step of the tanning process to a specialist

In Tuscany however, tanneries do not work this way. We found something more similar to the Silicon Valley of leather. The small town where we buy our leather consists of several companies, each specialized in a specific part of the tanning process. Every small company competes to be the one that takes care of its specialization. Skins move from specialist to specialist, receiving the best possible treatment there is for every part of the process.

This explains why Italian leather is still the best.

Italians Are As Passionate About Leather As They Are About Food

I will leave you with a quote from our main leather supplier in Tuscany.

“When I eat a pasta, I want to know where the wheat was grown. I want to know where the eggs were laid. I wanna know from which well the water was drawn. If I don’t know this, I cannot trust the food.”

He has the same philosophy when it comes to leather.

Are You A Fan Of Italian Leather? Let me know!

I would love you to share your experiences with Italian leather. Have you recently bought a leather item that you are very happy with? Perhaps you know something about leather that I have missed? Do you have any questions regarding leather? Let me know in the comments below. I will answer any question you have.

Don’t forget to share this article with as many people as possible so the common knowledge about Italian leather increases.