Leather and its origin

The leather industry is one of the oldest in human history. Our most distant ancestors used skins to protect their bodies, hands and feet. Leather is made from the skin of any mammal, reptile, bird or fish through a process called tanning. This process preserves the skin which would otherwise rot quickly.

Nowadays, at least half of the leather produced is transformed into shoes and around a quarter into clothing. Only about 15% is used for furniture and the rest is transformed into leather goods and other consumer products.

Because of its durability and comfort, leather has always been used for the upholstery of furniture seats or means of transport. The first leathers were made from cowhide, cowhide, pigskin, waterfowl or goat skin. The skins came from animals hunted or raised for food. The current trend is for most of the upholstery leather to come from bovine hides (i.e. cowhide) as these are readily available and better suited to the needs of creators, producers and customers of today.

Far from losing its popularity, leather is still the material of choice for many people, not only for furniture, whether commercial or private, but also for the automobile industry, aviation and the nautical sector.