Ostrich Leather

Ostrich Leather Overview

Ostrich leather is unmistakable in its appearance; No other material looks similar to it. It is characterized by raised points that are localized to the center of the hide. The portion with these bumps is called the crown. It's actually the back of the ostrich where the animal's neck meets its body. The bumps are quill follicles where a feather used to reside. On the left and right side of the diamond shaped crown the skin is quite smooth. In fact, only about 1/3 of the whole skin has quill bumps. Since the crown is the most sought after portion and since it constitutes such a small area of the skin, "full quill" ostrich products are considerably expensive when compared to bovine leather. This, along with the fact that it is one of the strongest commercial leathers, leads ostrich leather to be seen as a luxury item.

Ostrich Leather Uses

Traditionally, fashion has driven the demand for ostrich leather. Fashion houses successfully used ostrich leather in handbags for many years. Most designer brands have at least one purse made with ostrich leather. Footwear is another way in which designers showcase the material. But, by far the most widely used application is for ostrich leather boots. Just about every bootmaker uses ostrich and the demand for ostrich boots is higher than any other ostrich leather product. Belts are another major accessory that utilize ostrich leather (most ostrich boots are purchased with a matching ostrich belt). Of course there are other uses for ostrich leather notably shoes, wallets and jackets. The cost for most items is usually between $500 to $5000; handbags and jackets are highest priced due to the shear amount of leather used. Designer handbags in Ostrich leather are extremely popular as many luxury designers such as Prada, Marcela Calvet, Botega Venetta and Gucci, continue to make fashion statements with their wares made of exotic skins.

Although such items are not inexpensive, women seek them out because they are simply beautiful and different. It is quite easy to recognize an ostrich handbag. Different geographic regions have different demands for ostrich leather. For instance, Japan has an especially strong market for lady's handbags while the southern United States has many consumers of ostrich boots. Aside from fashion designers, the automotive industry is a heavy user of ostrich leather. Car seats, dashboards, motorcycle seats, and door panels can all be covered or accented with ostrich leather. Most after market car and motorcycle shops can alter seats by applying ostrich leather as seat inserts. Many luxury car manufacturers offer ostrich leather seats from the factory. This practice is especially popular in European countries.

Posted by Exotic Leather on Sun, 6 Jul 2008
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Types of Leather

In general, leather is sold in three forms:

Full-Grain Leather
Full-Grain leather or Top-Grain is referring to the upper section of a hide that contains the epidermis or skin layer. It refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed or snuffed(otherwise known as Corrected) in order to remove imperfections on the surface of the hide. Only the hair has been removed from the epidermis. The grain remains in its natural state which will allow the best fiber strength, resulting in greater durability. The natural grain also has natural breathability, resulting in greater comfort for clothing. The natural Full-Grain surface will wear better than other leather. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural "Patina" and grow more beautiful over time. The finest leather furniture and footwear are made from Full-Grain leather. For these reasons only the best raw hide are used in order to create Full-Grain or Top-Grain leather. Full grain leathers can mainly be bought as two finish types: aniline and semi-aniline.

Corrected-Grain Leather
Corrected-Grain leather is any Top-Grain leather that has had its surfaces sanded, buffed or snuffed in order to remove any imperfection on the surface due to insect bites, healed scars or brands. Top-Grain leather is often wrongly referred to as Corrected-Grain. Although Corrected-Grain leather is made from Top-Grain as soon as the surface is corrected in any way the leather is no longer referred to asTop-Grain leather. The hides used to create corrected leather are hides of inferior quality that do not meet the high standards for use in creating aniline or semi-aniline leather. The imperfections are corrected and an artificial grain applied. Most corrected-grain leather is used to make pigmented leather as the solid pigment helps hide the corrections or imperfections. Corrected grain leathers can mainly be bought as two finish types: semi-aniline and pigmented.

Split Leather
Split leather is leather that is created from the fibrous part of the hide left once the Top-Grain of the raw hide has been separated from the hide. During the splitting operation the grain and drop split are separated. The drop split can be further split (thickness allowing) into a middle split and a flesh split. In very thick hides the middle split can be separated into multiple layers until the thickness prevents further splitting. Split leather then has an artificial layer applied to the surface of the split and is embossed with a leather grain. Splits are also used to create Suede. The strongest suedes are usually made from grain splits (that have the grain completely removed) or from the flesh split that has been shaved to the correct thickness. Suede is "fuzzy" on both sides. Suede is less durable than top-grain. Suede is cheaper because many pieces of suede can be split from a single thickness of hide, whereas only one piece of top-grain can be made. However, manufacturers use a variety of techniques to make suede appear to be full-grain. For example, in one operation, glue is mixed with one side of the suede, which is then pressed through rollers; these flatten and even out one side of the material, giving it the smooth appearance of full-grain. Latigo is one of the trade names for this product. A reversed suede is a grained leather that has been designed into the leather article with the grain facing away from the visible surface. It is not a true form of suede. The International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemist Societies has a full glossary of leather terms that can be found at IULTCS.

Other less-common leathers include:

Buckskin Leather
Buckskin or brained leather is a tanning process that uses animal brains or other fatty materials to alter the leather. The resulting supple, suede-like hide is usually smoked heavily to prevent it from rotting.

Patent Leather
Patent leather is leather that has been given a high gloss finish. The original process was developed in Newark, New Jersey, by inventor Seth Boyden in 1818. Patent leather usually has a plastic coating.

Shagreen
Shagreen is also known as Stingray skin/leather. Applications used in furniture production date as far back as the art deco period. The word "Shagreen" originates from France and is commonly confused with a shark skin and stingray skin combination.

Vachetta Leather
Vachetta leather is used in the trimmings of luggage and handbags, popularized by Louis Vuitton. The leather is left untreated and is therefore susceptible to water and stains. Sunlight will cause the natural leather to darken in shade, called a patina.

Slink
Slink is leather made from the skin of unborn calves. It is particularly soft, and is valued for use in making gloves.

Deer skin
Deer skin is one of the toughest leathers, partially due to adaptations to their thorny and thicket filled habitats. Deerskin has been prized in many societies including indigenous Americans. Most modern deer skin is no longer procured from the wild, with "deer farms" breeding the animals specifically for the purpose of their skins. Large quantities are still tanned from wild deer hides in historic tanning towns such as Gloversville and Johnstown in upstate New York. Deer skin is used in jackets and overcoats, professional sporting equipment such as kendo bogu, as well as high quality personal accessories like handbags and wallets. It commands a high price due to its relative rarity and proven durability.

Nubuck
Nubuck is top-grain cattle hide leather that has been sanded or buffed on the grain side, or outside, to give a slight nap of short protein fibers, producing a velvet-like surface. There are two other descriptions of leather commonly used in specialty products, such as briefcases, wallets, and luggage.

Belting Leather
Belting leather is a full grain leather that was originally used in driving pulley belts and other machinery. It is often found on the surface of briefcases, portfolios, and wallets, and can be identified by its thick, firm feel and smooth finish. Belting leather is the only kind of leather used in luxury products that can retain its shape without the need for a separate frame; it is generally a heavy-weight of full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather. * Nappa leather, or Napa leather, is chrome-tanned and is extremely soft and supple and is commonly found in higher quality wallets, toiletry kits, and other personal leather goods. The following are not 'true' leathers, but contain leather material.

Bonded Leather
Bonded Leather , or "Reconstituted Leather", is not really a true leather but a man-made material composed of 90% to 100% leather fibers (often scrap from leather tanneries or leather workshops) bonded together with latex binders to create a look and feel similar to that of genuine leather at a fraction of the cost. Bonded leather is not as durable as other leathers, and is recommended for use only if the product will be used infrequently. One example of bonded leather use is in Bible covers.

Bicast Leather
Bicast leather is a man-made product that consists of a thick layer of polyurethane applied to a substrate of low-grade or reconstituted leather. Most of the strength of bicast leather comes from the polyurethane coating. Bicast was originally made for the shoe industry and recently was adopted by the furniture industry. The original formula created by Bayer was fairly strong, but creating Bicast from the original recipe is expensive. Most of the Bicast used today is created using inferior generic chemicals resulting in an inferior material. The result is a much stiffer product that tends to delaminate, resulting in bubbles and cracking. The vast majority of leather is sold according to its area. The leather is placed through pin-wheel or electronic measuring machines and its surface area is determined. The unit of measurement is square metre, square decimetre or square foot. The thickness is also important, and this is measured using a thickness gauge (the unit of measurement is millimetres, e.g., 1.8 mm is a standard thickness for a school shoe). In some parts of the world top-grain thicknesses are described using weight units of ounces. Although the statement is in ounces only, it is an abbreviation of ounces per square foot. The thickness value can be obtained by the conversion: 1 oz/ft² = 1/64 inch (0.4 mm) Hence, leather described as 7 to 8 oz is 7/64 to 8/64 inches (2.8 to 3.2 mm) thick. The weight is usually given as a range because the inherent variability of the material makes ensuring a precise thickness very difficult. Other leather manufacturers state the thickness directly in millimetres.

Posted by Exotic Leather on Sun, 6 Jul 2008
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Pictures of Exotic Leathers

Sefeni Exotic Shoe Leather (Ostrich, Caiman, & Mantaray)
Ostrich Skin Leather
Caiman Neck Skin Leather
Caiman Tail Skin Leather
Eel Skin Leather

Posted by Exotic Leather on Sat, 21 Jun 2008
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Exotic Leather Types

Today, most leather is made of cattle skin, but many exceptions exist. Exotic leathers add unique properites for products that are comfortable, elegant, and beautiful.

Lamb, Deer skin, and Elk Leather
Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparels. Deer and elk skin are widely used in work gloves and indoor shoes.

Pigskin Leather
Pigskin is used in apparel and on seats of saddles.

Kangaroo Leather
Kangaroo skin is used to make items which need to be strong but flexible, it is the material most commonly used in high quality bullwhips. Kangaroo leather is favored by some motorcyclists for use in motorcycle leathers specifically because of its lighter weight and higher abrasion resistance compared with cowhide, thus providing greater protecting in case of a fall on the roadway. Kangaroo leather is also used for high performance soccer footwear.

Snake, Crocodile, Eel, and Lizard Leather
Leather made from more exotic skins has at different times in history been considered very beautiful. For this reason certain snakes and crocodiles have been hunted to near extinction.

Ostrich Leather
In the 1970s, ostrich farming for their feathers became popular, and ostrich leather became available as a side product. There are different processes to produce different finishes for many applications, i.e., upholstery, footwear, automotive products, accessories and clothing. Ostrich leather is considered one of the finest and most durable in the world and is currently used by many major fashion houses such as Hermès, Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Ostrich leather has a characteristic "goose bump" look because of the large follicles from which the feathers grew.

String Ray Leather
In Thailand, sting ray leather is used in wallets and belts in the same way as regular bovine leather. Sting ray leather is as tough and durable as hard plastic. The leather is often dyed black and covered with tiny round bumps in the natural pattern of the back ridge of an animal. These bumps are then usually dyed white to highlight the decoration. Leather clothing is also popular in Thailand.

Bison Leather
In the United States, bison leather has become popular. It is used for gloves, jackets and some baseball gloves. It is rugged but supple and has a waxy feel.

Overall, leather comes from a variety of other sources, including the skins of cattle, hogs, goats, sheep, alligators, ostriches, kangaroos, and yaks. There is quite a wide range of different animal leather used both for leather garments as well as leather goods, such as handbags, wallets, purses, belts, bags and other customized leather articles. The most commonly used leather types are cow leather, sheep leather, buffalo Leather and ox leather. Of these, the most expensive is cow leather, followed by buffalo leather, ox leather and sheep leather respectively. Sheep leather is quite famous for its softness and mostly used in leather garments; however due to its smaller overall size, it cannot be used for the long coats for which cow leather and buffalo leather are widely used.

Posted by Exotic Leather on Sat, 21 Jun 2008 — 0 comment(s)
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