I only truly understood that not all leather is the same when I began to delve deeper into the material. The term 'leather' can encompass a wide range of products: from heavy, vegetable-tanned saddlery leather to delicate lamb nappa used for jackets.

Although the leather is stabilized after tanning, it still undergoes several processing steps before it acquires its final properties. Each of these steps significantly influences how flexible and durable the leather becomes.

Tanning is the essential step in leather production. It stabilizes the hide, thereby protecting it from decay and transforming it into a durable, resilient material. As early as the Stone Age, humans used various methods to preserve animal hides - …

For a raw hide to become durable leather, it must be preserved. This is because the natural decomposition process begins as soon as the hide is removed from the animal. If not properly preserved, it starts to decompose within a day. Bacteria attack the tissue, leading to putrefaction damage, …