Leather and fashion

Leather is as old as the development of man. When man hunted animals for food, he discovered that animal skins were useful for clothing and for various implements such as bags, shoes and even for crafts and artwork. Yes, crafts and artwork in the form of paintings on animal hides.

Leather is a by-product of meat production: the hunting and killing of animals for meat. In the present time, hunting for animals is a rare thing. But farming, or raising animals in farms or ranches is very common and has become important. The leather industry is a multi-million dollar business. That's because leather has become very important for us. We use it everyday. Starting from shoes, belts, gloves, to wallets, purses, handbags, and briefcases. It is hard to imagine a world without leather. It would be very much boring and for the most, just very difficult.

After necessity comes creativity. The common leather comes in various types; pigskin, suede, or the exotic snakeskin, stingray, or crocodile. Leather can have various colours or even a combination of colours like our stingray purse Classic Red Eye.

And with the demand for exotic leathers, raising animals in farms (crocodiles, for example), is becoming important. Not only for fashion but also for conservation purposes. Alligator farming is a factor in the success of the conservation of the American alligator. Now there are ostrich farms, emu farms and crocodile farms. We may not know but in the future, some enterprising person could find a way to raise stingrays or sea snakes in a controlled environment.

Leather fashion

It is hard to tell exactly when leather became fashionable or became a fashion statement. There are some who thought it started in the time of the Wild West (U.S.A.), the picture of the cowboy wearing leather chaps for protection from dusty winds and the elements. Wearing leather somehow was related to the Wild West then. The feeling of wide open plains, the rugged nature, wind and dust, elements of risk and danger and such like.

Then after some time, the motorcycle and the adventure of road travel became popular. Leather was used to make gloves and jackets mainly to provide protection from the wind. Some styling and creativity was involved and gave it a look that became popular. Yes, think of big motorcycles with drivers wearing dark sunglasses and black leather jackets. Leather at that time was somehow connected with the popularity of the big motorbikes from Harley-Davidson. Even now, there are leather jackets and gloves for those who ride motorcycles for fun or as part of their work.

From the fashion trends at the present time, leather is much more popular as an accessory rather than worn as a jacket. Don't get us wrong, leather jackets and gloves are still worn but not as the cowboy or the motorbike rider. Every fashion house, runway show or fashion magazine will show a new style, a new exciting way of creating leather items. This caters to the different tastes and styles of those who buy and use leather accessories. How do you like your wallet to be like? What would you want to have for your handbag? Should purses be made from one piece of crocodile leather or would you rather have it combined with some type of textile?

Exotic leathers have unique and beautiful grains which makes the accessory an attraction, to some extents, desirable. Crocodile leather is an established luxury, status symbol. Exotic leathers are just different.

Stingray leather gets attention, for example. Small, hard as pebbles bead-like formations along the surface never cease to wonder. Like the turtle, the stingray grows this naturally. Unpolished, it is rough and sometimes sharp to the touch. A craftsman knows how to do it just right so that it has a rich, warm feeling like all exotic leathers.

From then, to now and the future

Leather will always be with us, changing in form and texture. There will be new designs to cater to the changes of fashion. There will be new ways of doing things so the consumer will always be able to choose.