| Leather from Italy has become world-renowned with | | | | What makes Italian leather so special? |
| regard to its quality, class, and elegance. A good | | | | Italian leather is generally hand-crafted and tooled to |
| leather jacket can keep you protected from the | | | | give you the best quality. Much time and care is put |
| elements and on the cutting edge of fashion at the | | | | into making the leather as durable, weather-tight, and |
| same time. But what makes Italian leather so special? | | | | beautiful as it can be. At every stage of the tanning |
| Why has it been given the acclaim it has? These and | | | | process, the leather is tested to make sure it is up to |
| other questions will be answered in the following | | | | standard. The process by which it is made, though |
| section. | | | | having benefited from modern technology, remains |
| What is leather? | | | | essentially the same as it has been for the last three |
| Leather is the skin of an animal which has been totally | | | | thousand years. Why mess with a winning product, |
| removed of hair. The skin goes through a complex and | | | | after all? |
| arduous process involving tanning, soaking, and cleaning | | | | What do I look for in an Italian leather jacket? |
| before it can be officially called leather. Man has been | | | | First, smell the product. Leather gives off a very rich |
| using leather for over three thousand years, making it | | | | and musky, earthy smell, and the fragrance of the |
| one of the most ancient materials used as a tool. | | | | chemicals used to treat the leather should have |
| Before the advent of tanning, ancient man would | | | | dissipated by the time the product is ready to be sold. |
| generally dress himself in the pelts of animals he had | | | | Second, make sure it is water-tight. Drops of water |
| caught and killed. This untreated pelt would eventually | | | | should bead on the surface of the leather and not |
| decompose, and he would be left to find another | | | | seep through it at all. |
| suitable animal to make clothing out of. Because of | | | | Finally, before you buy a jacket, be sure to research |
| tanning, man was able to preserve the hides of the | | | | on the company you are buying the jacket from. |
| animals he caught or tamed, and prevent any sort of | | | | Finding out the answers to such questions as how long |
| putrefaction from occurring, for a reasonably long | | | | they have been in business and what consumers say |
| period of time at least. This is done by removing the | | | | about their products will go a long way in helping you |
| presence of fat and water, substances that cause it | | | | select the jacket that is perfect for you. |
| to decay over time, in the skin. | | | | |