Dan and I were in Milan, by the way, for the Leather Fair, Anteprima, to see what was new for AW08 and to introduce Dan to some of the tanners I use. He asked, how, out of so many tanneries, do I choose which leathers are the best?

Here’s how I tried to explain the difference between vegetable-tanned and other (namely chrome, synthetic and corrected) leathers.

Much like Dan’s bracing cups of tea, the term leather ‘tanning’ comes from an ancient process of steeping animal skins in a brew of leaves, bark, nuts or other vegetable-based extracts… which release tannins.

Using ‘recipes’ tried and tested over centuries, and with the ‘brew’ carefully made stronger and stronger through the process, the tannins penetrate to the very structure of the fibres in the skin, permanently altering their chemical structure to create leather.
It is an incredibly involved and precise skill to get it right that can’t be rushed (it takes over four weeks to vegetable tan a hide), and there are many other processes that are performed before and after to bring us the material we know as leather.

But, in essence, it is this chemistry between vegetable extract and flesh that creates vegetable tanned leather. It is still made today by some specialist tanneries, mostly around the Florence area of Tuscany, and wherever possible I like to use it for my designs because

• It has the most amazing look, touch and smell.
• It is 100% natural.
• It gives the leather a rich depth of colour.
• Each hide has its unique character enhanced, that is otherwise eliminated with other methods.
• And, unlike chrome-tanned leathers, it ages beautifully.