The Craft - Our Leather Qualities
Leather is such a fascinating material. Since the dawn of time, mankind has been using leather for a variety of applications.
Leather Grades Explained
Apart from the construction of a shoe, the other most important aspect is the choice and quality of leather. As with most things in life leather has variations, or “grades”. Here is a quick overview of the most common grades of leather.
Full Grain Leather is the best quality leather sitting at the top of the chain. The majority of our smooth leathers can be categorized as high grade full grain leathers. It refers to the outside part of the animal’s hide just below the hair. The term “Full” means that it has not been buffed or sanded, which is a process that is used to remove imperfections or marks. The tight porous nature of the leather prevents moisture retention but it also means that it is thicker.
Essentially, Top Grain Leather is like full grain but with a twist. It undergoes light sanding to shave off a few millimeters from the top, removing any imperfections. One of the most prominent kinds of top grain leathers is Nubuck.
Lastly, the most common type of leather comes in many forms and has many names but is best known as Split Leather. It is created from the Corium part of the hide after it is split off the grain layer, hence its name. A prominent kind of split leather is Suede.
Our Production Supply Chain
Buying leather may sound easy. Pick up the phone. Place an order. Leather arrives… well, not here.
This is why great importance is placed on searching and buying the most expensive element to our high quality footwear.
The Break of the Leather
When we source the higher grade full grain box calf from the best European tanneries, we are always looking for a material that has a ‘fine break’.
There is a saying in the industry –‘the break of the leather’– which refers to creases made as the leather naturally flexes time and time again as it is worn. Of course, all shoes take a huge amount of punishment as they are worn day-to-day, open to the elements.
Only the finest full grain leather, if cared for well, will continue to spring back and hold its shape over time, so we always look for ‘a good clean break’ in our leathers.
Our Box Calf Leather
The search for qualitative superior leathers, higher graded, and with better ‘clean break’ is our particular never-ending story. It has always been at the very heart of our core values as a luxury footwear brand, to always look for the best materials.
We only use the finest leathers for our entire product range that are sourced from famous European tanneries like Puy, Annonay, Errepi, Pellami and Tris.
Especially for our Box Calf leathers, we have partnered with a century-old tannery in Italy, that provides one of the best high-grade full grain Box Calf leathers. Their main source is a specific and distinguished calf breed, which has gained in popularity with top luxury brands over the last 20 years.
It was founded in 1865, and has been dedicated – exclusively – to the tanning of superior quality leather for international top brands.
They work for top international hand crafted shoe brands such as Gaziano & Girling, Berluti and Crockett & Jones, in addition to luxury brands as Gucci, to name only a few.
They have specialized on calfskin tanning with chrome salts, a technique they have mastered over the years. Heritage traditions are merged with the latest Italian techniques and innovations, which have been adopted by the tannery owners, always driven by an everlasting itch for perfection.
At the tannery, they thoroughly trace and control every production step, starting from the earliest calf selection process at the slaughterhouse to the color dyeing process and finishing. Their production volume is admittedly low, which makes their product more valuable and in great demand at this moment.
The most characteristic property of their exceptional Box Calf lies on their calves small size (younger) and thicker skin, which accounts for the uniqueness and quality of the final product. The number of hair pores in a calfskin remains the same throughout their life, which is why baby calf skins have the softest and finest pore coefficient.
What is ‘Box Calf’ Leather?
For the curious out there, Box calf is a term that describes premium calfskin (or fine black calf) these days. However, the term comes from Joseph Box, who was a leather shoe craftsman in 1890. In another description, it means that the calfskin is tanned with chrome salts.
Calfskin is the most common material used to make high quality man’s shoes, and has the oldest tradition. As its name implies, it comes from the skin of young calves which are usually older than 3 months (and usually between 6-12).
