There’s just something about leather. Incredibly strong and enduring, it has a satisfyingly firm yet supple texture. It ages beautifully, too, growing a thin, rich, glossy layer as it ages, imbuing the material with that precious, lived and loved charm.

This is one of the reasons women value classic leather handbags from renowned brands, such as the Le Pliage Longchamp ladies bag. The brand credentials of the bag mean it is much more likely to retain its commercial value over time. The timeless design of a Longchamp bag, meanwhile, ensures it’s in vogue and on-trend year in, year out.

Note, however, that leather quality is the essential ingredient that makes a leather bag last for one or a few lifetimes. This is another reason women tend to go for top leather bag designers. They have a reputation for using only top-notch leather impeccably sewn by leather artisans and a brand identity that boldly declares and claims their bags’ outstanding quality.

That said, leather bags are not created equal. Some of this inequality stems from the design and craftsmanship, but a larger part comes from the type of leather used to make it.

Different Types of Leather

There are five types of leather, depending on how the hide was processed and how much of the original hide remains after processing.

1.     Full-Grain Leather

Full-grain leather is thick, unsplit leather and is, thus, the strongest and most durable. Its irregular and unique patterns and markings leave the most memorable impression.

The scars and imperfections on the hide are still clearly visible because the outer layer (i.e., the grain) does not undergo sanding, finishing, and other grain processing except hair removal. As such, leather made from minimally blemished (ideally unblemished) hide is the most prized.

Full-grain leather is the most impermeable type of leather. It also ages the most gracefully, acquiring a wonderful sheen and gloss – i.e., the patina of age.

2.     Top-Grain Leather

Top-grain leather is like full-grain leather because it uses the outer layer of the hide. Unlike the latter, however, its outer layer or grain has been sanded and buffed to make it more pliable, give it a softer finish, and achieve a uniform grain.

However, the sanding and finishing leave top-grain leather less durable and more permeable than full-grain leather.

3.     Genuine Leather

Genuine leather can be made from any of the hide layers, including the outer layer and the layers underneath, which are the following:

• Grain and corium junction: the layer immediately under the grain, a mix of the grain (the tight outer layer) and the corium (the looser collagen layer)
• Corium: the thick layer after the junction, made of collagen fibres, looser than the grain

Genuine leather is called corrected leather. After sanding and buffing, it may be spray-painted, stamped or embossed. These processes correct imperfections and give the leather an attractive surface appearance.

4.     Split-Grain Leather

Split-grain leather is made using the collagenous layer, the corium. It’s looser, much more permeable and, thus, structurally weaker than full-grain and top-grain leathers.

5.     Bonded Leather

Bonded leather is made from leather scraps collected from cutting, splitting and shaving leather. They are shredded and then bonded together with rubber or polyurethane.

How Leather Is Made

Leather is made from preserved and treated animal skin or hide. Today, the fashion industry typically sources leather from livestock, particularly oxen, cows, and sheep.

Leather is made in a tannery, where the hide may be soaked for one to two days to clean it and remove any salts (if the hide had been salted and stored before processing). The hide is then treated with lime to soften it and remove the hairs on it, and any excess flesh is removed.

The resulting clean hide is ready for tanning. It is loaded into tanning drums containing vegetable or synthetic tanning agents (chromium salts) and rotated for hours while kept at the ideal temperature. Animal fats are added in this step and, at the end of it, the tanned hide passes through pressure rollers that wring out excess moisture.

Tanning treats the hide and stops decay. It also converts animal skin into leather.

The tanned hide may undergo additional tanning or retanning. It's the same process as the above, except a bleaching agent may be used to prepare the leather for dyeing. However, after passing through pressure rollers, retanned leathers are dried (air-dried, oven-dried or vacuum-dried) before a mechanical softening massage in the staking machine. Staking makes leather softer and more supple.

Retanned, dried and staked leather may now be dyed to achieve its final colour. It can take on any hue, from neutral turtledove (grey), caramel (brown), paper (cream), and black to vibrant green, paprika, and love (red). Dyeing takes place in drums that agitate the leather and the dye solution for eight hours. After drying, the now-coloured leather is again massaged through staking.

The finishing stage follows. The leather is tumbled in mills for softening, then stretched out on mesh frames to tighten the leather's pores. At this stage, it may undergo pigment spraying (i.e., finishing), pattern embossing, and stamping. It is then oven-cured to set. Note that full-grain leather does not get 'finished'.

The next step is ironing, which is applying heat and pressure to enhance the sheen of the leather. It is now ready for use in various leather products.

Leather: From Hide to Bag

Leather is an exquisite material that makes excellent ladies’ handbags like those found on Longchamp UAE online.

When shopping for a leather bag, shop from a trusted leather goods brand so you’re assured it will last the test of time.