This video seems unfair. The person making the video rides the line between saying Saffiano is fine, but also kinda bad. This is 🫤
A quick thread 🧵
A quick thread 🧵
First, what is Saffiano leather? It's an Italian leather that has been hot stamped with a grain and then coated to protect the surface. Technically, this is a corrected grain leather.
What is corrected grain?
What is corrected grain?
Leather generally comes in two types: full grain, which is the natural grain of the animal, and then corrected grain, where imperfections are removed and then coated with some finish. You generally want to avoid cheap corrected grain shoes bc they don't age well. See here:
But there are other types of corrected grains, such as pebble or Scotch grain, where the leather has been stamped with a grain pattern. Some of the best shoemakers use pebble grain, and these shoes age well.
These are a friend's fishing shoes; he wades through water in them
These are a friend's fishing shoes; he wades through water in them
Saffiano is basically just a hot stamped leather. It's stiff and lends structure to leather accessories, such as wallets and bags. A friend of mine is one of the best bespoke leather goods in the world. She runs a company called Chester Mox & uses Saffiano. Here's a wallet:
The person in the video suggests that this leather is bad and coated with cheap stuff. Seems unfair. When buying a leather good, think about how you want to look down the line. Stuff like full grain, veg tan leathers will develop a patina. Like this:
This can be great if that's what you want! But at least two retailers have told me stories about angry customers marching back with a week-old bag, upset that their leather scuffed.
Leathers like this are going to scuff and darken from water droplets or oils from your hands. One retailer told me that he refused to stock a particularly beautiful bag because the leather risked scuffing in transit, and ill-informed consumers think scuff = bad.
The upside to leathers such as Saffiano is that they will not scuff or darken. They will look the same in 10 years as day one. Some people like that.
Also, think about your outfit. If you're a woman going out in a little black dress, you prob want something like a Saffiano
Also, think about your outfit. If you're a woman going out in a little black dress, you prob want something like a Saffiano
If you're a rugged workwear outfit, you prob want a full grain veg tan leather. You may welcome the scuffing, marking, and patia that happens on a bag like this because it compliments the vibe of your outfit.
The guy behind the original TikTok video owns a Texas leather goods company called Tanner Leatherstein. When you dive into it—surprise, surprise—he sells full grain, veg tan, pull-up leather bags. He has a vested interest in making leather like Saffiano look bad
As for his claims about cost, I don't think the leather he uses costs significantly more than Saffiano. I can't say if his claims about labor costs are correct, but they seem grossly low to me.
However, I will say that I think big-name fashion brands typically provide low value in terms of leather goods. Nearly all are machine-sewn. In spring of 2010, Louis Vuitton was hit with a lawsuit in the UK for using this ad to promote their bags
The ad gives the impression that LV products are carefully made by hand when they are, in fact, made by machine. True handmade leather goods are made with a technique known as saddle stitching, where the leather is pricked with an awl & two needles pass through from either side
You can usually tell when a leather item has been handsewn when the stitches go in a diagonal dash like this: ////. Rather than like this: -----
The holes will also be nearly invisible.
Example: left is machine sewn; right is handsewn
The holes will also be nearly invisible.
Example: left is machine sewn; right is handsewn
There are lots of things that can end up inflating the price of a final fashion item. These may be necessary to deliver a good product. I would be careful with the original video's message that it's all a scam and that Saffiano is necessarily bad. Reality is more complicated.
Want to say one more thing. I generally think that big-name fashion brands are a bad value for leather goods. But there's a huge industry now around DTC companies with a marketing pitch around "cut out the middleman" and "minimize cost/ maximize build quality"
Many of these companies make products that look very generic and soulless to me. The designs are also often 😔 It's like brown Horween leather sneakers; skinny chinos, etc. It's all business casual stuff that feeds into a certain rational consumer looking to min/max value.
Ultimately, I question whether these people end up having a connection and loving their purchases, and whether it's truly sustainable to build wardrobes this way. Who ends up still using their wallet in 20 years? The woman who bought Prada or the person who bought a DTC item?
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