Exotic Leather Blog

To achieve the high-quality American crocodile skin (also known as acutus crocodile) needed for high-fashion, the skins must go through a process called tanning. Tanning an exotic skin is the crucial process in the transition of raw skin into leather. Without this, the skins are susceptible to bacterial growth and decomposition.

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.

A lot of the fashion designers are curious about the tanning process for various exotic leathers. In fact, questions like “how do you tan ______?” are among the top few FAQs that Pan American Leathers gets.

So, in this blog article, we thought we’d share a little bit about the tanning process for one of our newest products: beaver tails!

When you have a specific vision of what you need for an exotic leather project, the last thing you want to do is settle for whatever the distributor you order from has in stock. There are times where you want a very specific look and feel for the leather you use in your project, and any deviations from your ideal can compromise your end results.

Here at Pan American Leathers, we do our best to make sure that we have a broad selection of exotic leathers for all of our most discerning clients. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to keep every kind of leather in stock all the time, considering how many options. This is an issue for many distributors.

Exotic leathers can add a unique and striking touch to many different high-fashion projects. However, because of their rarity compared to other leathers, it can be hard to find the perfect piece of exotic skin to suit your particular vision.Distributors often only carry a few of the most popular colors and finishes for specific types of exotic leather. So, you might be forced to make compromises—to order something that’s close to your vision rather than an exact match. But, do you really need to compromise?

In a previous post, I mentioned the issues with metal-free tanning vs. chrome tanning for exotic leathers. The big issue with vegetable tanning was that—although it was more environmentally-friendly than chrome tanning—it produced hides that lacked certain physical and aesthetic qualities required in the world of luxury leather.

In a couple of recent blogs, we’ve talked about the Lineapelle expo and its focus on metal-free tanning methods. One of the reasons why veg-tan is catching on in the industry is that it doesn’t use the same kinds of metal-enriched heavy chemicals that chrome tanning relies on. This helps to limit the environmental impacts of the tanning process.

At the recent Lineapelle expo, there was a lot of discussion about vegetable tanning, or veg-tan. This is a metal-free tanning method that uses vegetable tannins to treat animal hides—one which has traditionally had a few issues compared to chrome tanning.

We just got back from Lineapelle, the international exhibition “dedicated to leather, accessories, components, synthetics and models for footwear, leather goods, garments and furniture.” It’s a good place to go for inspiration and to get a feel for trends in the market. Most years, it’s about colors, looks, or, most recently, technologically-enhanced materials like touchscreen, gold dusting, neoprene stretch, thermal, and glow-in-the-dark.