How can you tell the quality of a LEATHER BAG?
Many companies make leather bags. Many sell leather to leather accessories manufacturers. There are the famous, international, Made in Italy fashion brands, that produce in Italy completely or partially. The universe of handcrafted leather goods, handcrafted leather bags and Made in Italy (real or 'italian sounding') is very vast. We understand that for those who buy it is not easy to choose.
They often ask us how we want to be different and what is our perspective for the future.
We reply that we know very well who we are, what our tradition and our passion are: the search for QUALITY'and that is what will guide us in the best way. But let's start from the beginning: the first step is the choice of the leather and its quality.
HOW DO WE CHOOSE LEATHER?
We are looking for high-end leathers. In fact, it is not enough to say 'VERA PELLE' or 'GENUINE LEATHER' on a label to give a guarantee of quality. Leather, like any natural product worked by man, has several characteristics that determine its final quality.
The price of a leather for leather goods can vary from 8 euros per square meter to over 150 euros per square meter: technically all these leathers are 'GENUINE LEATHER' but it is clear that the final product will be qualitatively very different as the price changes.
USE
A leather is chosen considering its natural characteristics and the use of it. Not all types of leather are suitable for all types of bags; bag designers must take into account the type of material they will use and how it will behave in the assembly moment, sewing and during the 'life of the bag'.
ORIGIN
A skin can be better starting from the origin of the animal, from how it was raised and treated during all its life. We remind you that in Europe it is ILLEGAL to breed animals only to get their skin. LEATHER is always a by-product of the meat and dairy industry. We only use leathers from Europe. Natural features and processing variability of the various countries of origin will therefore affect the price and the final quality of the leather.
TANNING
It is leather processing. The two main types are VEGETABLE tanning and CHROME tanning. Italy has a great tradition in both types, Tuscany (where we are from) is particularly famous for vegetable tanning.
FLOWER
It is the grain, the most superficial and visible part of leather. It depends both on the natural characteristics of the leather itself and on how it was tanned. The texture of leather and its uniformity depend a lot on the 'grain' that influences all the tactile sensations we have when we touch a leather bag. The more a 'flower' is naturally beautiful, the less it will need retouching with chemical products and the more it will make the leather 'precious'.
FINISHING
It's the final part of the tanning, let's say it's like a light make-up for a beautiful woman. The final touch that creates the texture and the different expressions of color on the leather.
HAND
This is the part we love the best. The 'hand' refers on how leather moves under our hands when we choose it, the sensations to the touch that it can give: and that can really make the difference on a bag. A leather with 'a beautiful hand' can make a beautiful bag look truly gorgeous and makes you want to touch and hold it in your hands all the time!
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We always start from these 'simple' criteria; we only choose the most beautiful leathers, produced for luxury brands but remained unsold.
We've got this dream: we want to bring the quality of leather back to the core of the creation process of all our accessories. Our bags and backpacks are essential: we're not looking for 'special effects' of a glowing logo or for 'creativity at all costs' of a weird bag model. Instead we want to enhance the quality of the raw material and the durability of the items we produce.
The compliment we prefer (and that luckily we hear more often) is that our bags ' smell like leather ', that ' they are beautiful to touch ', that they ' smell good ' and that ' they remain beautiful over time, indeed they become more and more beautiful'.
A perfect example is our top case HEBO made with the finest leathers to which we have given a new life.