VEGETABLE TANNED LEATHER
For several years, we have made it a point of honor to offer you a range of vegetable tanned leather shoes. Behind our models, a long tanning process is necessary long before their manufacture and their arrival at your home. So what is the vegetable tanning technique that we use in our collections?
WHAT IS LEATHER TANNING?
Tanning is a mandatory step to transform animal skins into durable leathers. This principle allows the material to be rot-proof, water-resistant and flexible.
At a time when the fashion industry is one of the most polluting in the world, it is essential that players find more virtuous processes for the environment. When possible, we choose leather tanned with vegetable pigments for the creation of our models. All our leathers are tanned in Europe.
WHAT IS VEGETABLE TANNING?
Applied by our ancestors, vegetable tanning is a more environmentally friendly process used to transform animal skins into leather. It uses tannins of organic origin such as bark, leaves, seeds, roots... and contains less than 0.3% of tanning metals (chrome). The animal skins rest in a solution based on vegetable tannins (chosen beforehand to obtain the desired color and suppleness) for a few days or even several months.
A vegetable tanned leather is just as qualitative. It gives off natural and pronounced shades over time.
Be careful not to confuse "vegetable tanned leather" and "vegetable leather". The leather must come from animal skin, it is then the tanning used which is vegetable or not.
Therefore, a so-called "vegetable" leather does not exist strictly speaking, it is actually a material made from vegetable fibers such as pineapple for example.
THE STAGES OF VEGETABLE TANNING
Before tanning, the skin is prepared in 2 stages.
• The working of the skin: separation of the skin from the carcass. The skin is then analyzed and classified in a certain category according to its qualities and defects. It is then salted or dried for better preservation.
• River work: immerses the skin to moisten it and facilitate the removal of hair. It is then washed, rinsed and wrung out to be ready for tanning.
WHY CHOOSE VEGETABLE TANNED LEATHER SHOES?
Thus, vegetable tanning makes each leather unique because it uses natural ingredients. Vegetable tannins oxidize under the effect of light and naturally give the leather a patina over time. A vegetable tanned leather shoe must be maintained very regularly to preserve its beautiful shades.
VEGETABLE TANNED LEATHER SHOES AND ACCESSORIES
At KOST, we have chosen to use vegetable tanned leather to offer you varied, creative and original models: ankle boots, derbies and sneakers as well as accessories such as belts. No matter your style, our vegetable tanned leather shoes and accessories make your silhouette unique and are made to follow you for as long as you want.
