Best Leather Fabric For Bespoke Leather Products
Premium leather products have always been in demand due to their pristine quality. If you’re an entrepreneur and are looking to set up your own leather business, it’s vital to know the different leather grades available in the market.
The most important aspect for you is the choice and quality of leather to set up a profitable leather business. Since leather is essentially a hide sourced from different animals, it has varying characteristics.
Each grade of leather brings with it a set of varying properties. Some leathers are durable, while others are water-resistant. Some leathers may be suitable for rough use as they are scuff resistant, while others demand a more intricate and finesse handling. Soft leathers like Suede make for a perfect casual or summer shoe due to their snug fit.
It’s therefore essential to know the properties of the various leathers. The internet offers an abundance of resources which often gets enthusiasts overwhelmed. We bring you 10 examples of the best leathers in 2021 and why they’re so emblematic of making premium leather products through this post.
10 Best Leather Fabric For Making Bespoke Leather Goods
Leather is essentially the hide of animals chemically treated to create usable products like wallets, shoes and bags. For centuries, humans have relied on animals for their hides and below, we’ve put together a list of leathers from different animals and an overview of their characteristics. This will give you a better idea of which hide best suits your purpose and which leather should you use for your leather business.
Cowhide
Cowhide is a durable form of leather with a natural texture on its front, allowing it to be quickly processed through dye pigments and colourings. Given this ability, cowhide leather is extensively used in a range of elite and exclusive leather products. Being abrasion-resistant, cowhide is also actively used in products that receive heavy wear and tear.
Additional uses include clothes, shoes, upholstery, lining and car interiors, fashion accessories and gift items.
Buffalo Hide
Buffalo hide is stiffer than the cowhide, which is why it can support more pronounced leather patterns like deeper grooves and cuts. For this durability and longevity, buffalo hide leather is used to make vests, jackets, pants, bags, leather rugs, and shoes.
A well-crafted leather jacket made from buffalo hide can even last a lifetime, such is its durability. Thus, buffalo hide is appropriate for manufacturing rugged leather products that require longevity.
Sheep Skin
As the name suggests, sheepskin is made from the natural hide of an adult sheep. It has a characteristic smooth texture that resembles velvet very closely in terms of touch and feels. Sheepskin as a material is lightweight, resilient, soft and elastic and can be easily processed through tanning and dyeing, all the while retaining its initial form.
Lamb Skin
Leather obtained from the hides of a lamb is exceptionally soft, supple and lightweight. It’s, therefore, used to make garments, trench coats along with pants and gloves. Its aesthetic appeal has made this type of leather a primary material for premium jackets and purses manufactured by big fashion houses.
Obtained from the hide of young lambs, Suede is often used for making high-quality leather jackets, coats, and hats due to its water-resistant properties.
Deer or Elk Skin
Deer leather refers to the leather obtained from the hides of the deer family, which includes caribus reindeer, elks, moose and so forth. It’s one of the thinnest and softest leathers available today. Its snug fit makes it a popular choice for making gloves and scarfs.
Elk hide, in particular, has a reputation of being incredibly soft which is why it’s unpopular with many shoemakers.
Crocodile and Alligator
Crocodile leather is an extremely rare leather that makes up less than 1% of the world’s leather production. As a material, crocodile leather is rare and expensive because of the limited numbers of crocodiles. This rarity makes crocodile leather a luxury item endorsed by fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
However, crocodile hide requires a high level of craftsmanship and finesse to craft.
Stingray Leather
A resilient and durable leather, stingray leather is characteristic of a bumpy texture in terms of its feel. Stingray skin is affordable and comes in a wide array of colours and sizes. For this reason, this leather is extensively used to add a luxurious aesthetic to items such as upholstery, car interiors, and trims while also being found in smaller applications like wallets, purses, jewellery and inlays.
Snakeskin Leather
Now almost an obsolete leather, the hide of snakes like python, rattlesnake, and anaconda was once commercially available as snakeskin leather. Depending on where you obtain the hide from, the leather has different characteristics. For example, the soft hide obtained from the skin’s belly showcases the intricate scales used in scarves and premium purses.
Python skin is one of the most popular and durable forms of snakeskin leather and has a distinct scale pattern and colour. A mix of white, black and brown are the commonly obtained colours of snakeskin leather.
Sharkskin Leather
One of the toughest and most abrasive leathers out there, sharkskin leather, is rare and unique. Sharkskin leather has incredible tensile strength, and with long fibre structures, it’s extensively used to make premium leather boots.
However, with a view of sustainability, the use of sharkskin leather is banned in many countries.
Agro Loop Fabric
Agroloop BioFibre is a sustainable leather fabric that’s made from crop residue. The waste from the farms of sugarcane, banana, pineapple, flax and hemp are collected and left to compost. Thus, the fabric is environment-friendly and aesthetically just as magisterial as that of animal hide leather.
Conclusion
To sum up, each leather is unique and has distinct characteristics and aesthetic that make it the ideal fit for a particular kind of product. Some leather fabrics are better suited to providing comfort, while others offer more durability and longevity.
Since these leathers cater to a particular market niche, you need to be meticulous in choosing the best leather fabric of 2021 that’ll accentuate your product.
With years of expertise in the leather industry, we, at CreateLab. are pioneers in providing our consultation services to entrepreneurs, even if you’re just starting out in the leathercrafting industry. We help leather businesses produce luxurious designs and provide insights into the most suitable leather for their product.
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