Leather Buying Tips

Leather is nature's most practical and sensual material. Because of new techniques, skins are lighter, enabling designers to fashion garments for year round use. Beautiful finishes, textures and colors enhance leather's appeal and universality. To help you fully appreciate your genuine leather garment, the LAA offers the information on the right about how to buy a leather garment — and the proper ways to care for it. Click the glossary of terms to learn important leather terminology.

Look and Feel
If you are like most people, the first thing you do when you look at a leather garment is to touch it to feel its softness and texture. The way leather feels to the touch is called its hand and the general rule is: the softer the hand, the higher the cost.

Several factors influence the general appearance and overall quality of a leather garment. The first is the raw material, which is a product of genetics. Every hide (a whole pelt from a cow or steer, etc.) and skin (the pelt of young or smaller animals) has sections that are inherently wrinkled, softer or thinner than other parts. Environmental conditions including climate and food supply are also a factor. Nature's creations are never uniform; these surface variations and imperfections impart a unique beauty to genuine leather garments.

Workmanship
The tradition of leather making is more than 5,000 years old, and the first tanners' guilds can be traced back as far as twelfth century England. First a protective treatment termed curing is applied to the hide or pelt and it is shipped to a tannery. There the raw materials undergo a chemical process to render the leather soft and pliable. Tanners can now adjust the thickness of the skin, change the color and apply a finish that alter or enhance leather's appearance. Manufacturers receive the finished products and create the leather apparel that you enjoy today.

Shopping tips
The tradition of leather making is more than 5,000 years old, and the first tanners' guilds can be traced back as far as twelfth century England. First a protective treatment termed curing is applied to the hide or pelt and it is shipped to a tannery. There the raw materials undergo a chemical process to render the leather soft and pliable. Tanners can now adjust the thickness of the skin, change the color and apply a finish that alter or enhance leather's appearance. Manufacturers receive the finished products and create the leather apparel that you enjoy today.

• Leather resists tears, punctures, heat and cold
  
• Leather stretches and can mold to fit you, yet retains sufficient shape to provide support
  
• Leather is breathable and can actually wick away moisture
  
• Garment leather is a by-product of farming and human food production. The skins in leather garments bought in the U.S. do not come from animals killed just for their hides.
  
• No endangered species are ever used

   The Leather Apparel Association
   19 West 21st Street, Suite 403
   New York, NY 10010
   Tel: 212.727.1210
   Fax: 212.727.1218
   Email: mbehar@leatherapparelassociation.com