Exotic Leather Blog

The Brooklyn Shoe Space is a membership-based shared work space for shoemakers and leather workers alike to gather, share tips and get down to work on their latest leather and shoe projects. For people who want some studio time, the Brooklyn Shoe Space lets members schedule hourly sessions during the week. On weekends, the space is open to both members and the public from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. While at the Brooklyn Shoe Space, aspiring leather and shoemakers have access to the studio floor, tools and expert supervision from an experienced shoemaker.

Finding a school to help you learn how to work with leather can be tough. This is why the team here at PanAm Leathers is putting together a list of schools that offer an education in crafting leather goods. For the next stop in PanAm Leathers’ tour of leather craft education, we’d like to introduce you to the Chicago School of Shoemaking & Leather Arts.

Tandy Leather has been supplying leather, tools, kits and instructional materials and experiences to leather craftsmen since 1919, through hundreds of brick-and-mortar locations and their website. The company also holds numerous leather crafting classes at different sites around the country to help up-and-coming leather designers learn specific skills.

In our previous “Get a Leather Craft Education” article, we talked at length about The Shoe Surgeon School, which focused on the crafting of shoes specifically, and only focused on leather as a portion of the shoemaking process. Today, we’re going to be talking about a school closely related to April in Paris, Amblard Leather Atelier.

Tapping into the footwear craze of the past decade, Dominic Chambrone's Shoe Surgeon School has emerged as one of the most popular and influential leather craft schools internationally. 

The school is an event-based course that gives learners a chance to get hands-on lessons for working with and crafting shoes. As noted on their “About Us” page, the core values of the school are self-expression, empowerment and community.

Through the classes at The Shoe Surgeon School, you can learn how to establish and express your artistic vision while participating in a communal event where you can inspire and be inspired by others.

If you’re an aspiring designer or craftsman who wants to learn to work with leather, where can you go to learn? Of course, you won’t find classes on working with exotic leather or how to treat metallic or veg-tanned skins at your average community college! To help steer you in the right direction, we have assembled a list of reputable schools that focus on leather craft. We will dive into the differences between the schools, including location, focus, schedule and cost, so you can pick whatever works best for you.  

Designers were on their way to the American West for the Fall collections. They had their cowboy hats, Canadian tuxedos and fringe vests packed and ready. Although something happened and they took an unexpected detour.

This time, to Rodeo Drive.

For years, the most popular animal print in fashion has been leopard. High-end designers have transformed this, at times, kitschy trend into a luxury staple in the form of any and all ready-to-wear and accessory items (from coats, to blouses, to handbags and more). The print has taken over their runways and trickled down to the streets—landing on some of the most recognizable street style stars from Giovanna Battaglia to Bella Hadid. For the fun, urban, club girl, leopard is it… but where is the more polished woman to turn if she wants to tap into an animal print for a day at the office?

There was a time when exotic skins were geared exclusively towards the very elite set that could actually afford a crocodile handbag. Unless you were of the class living on Madison Avenue or Avenue Montaigne, there was little chance that you’d ever get to own an exotic anything. Heritage luxury brands like Hermes, Prada, Gucci, and Salvatore Ferragamo dictated the market and, therefore, dictated the customer.

In a few recent posts, we’ve talked about beaver tail — from what they are and how they’re processed to a few reasons why you should use them in your next exotic leather project. However, there is one more question that needs to be answered: what kind of exotic leather projects are the best for beaver tail skins based on their size, shape, durability and appearance?