Hand Finishing of Crust Leathers

As told by Greg Carmack 

As a student of “all things leather”, one of my current fascinations is the hand finishing of leather crusts of all kinds. It seems that the European luxury brands are on the forefront of this trend with some of the brands allocating as much as 80% of their offerings on websites to hand finished articles. This trend, in the US, is starting to catch on and new offerings at Orion Calf look to fan the flames.

Leathers in crust, such as French Calf, European Baby Calf, Shell Cordovan and even alligator will become more and more available. Hand finish dye stuffs from France (the same dyes used by top Luxury Brands) are also becoming available. The process for hand finishing is a bit different—when it comes to putting dye on a piece of leather, I spent my whole career learning how to apply dye without streaks, spots or variances. This European hand finish method is totally different.  With this method, the beauty of the item being dyed depends on all the things that I was taught to avoid. People want to be individuals and they want to have leather items that are not like everyone else’s. With this method, every piece can be a little different.

Anyone wishing to try these dyes or leathers can contact Orion Calf for more information. We would love to help you get started.