Where does leather come from?
Leather comes from many different animals, and not only mammals; birds, fish, and reptiles too. You can use the tanning process to turn just about any animal skin into a usable leather hide. Here are some of the most common, and a few interesting ones too:
The skin of all bovine animals can be tanned: cow, bull, calf, and buffalo. Goat, sheep, pig, horse… Kangaroo!
Ostrich and chicken. Elephant, rhino and hippo. Alligator, lizard, toad, all types of snakes. Salmon, tilapia, eel, shark, stingray. Turtle and many more.
About 65% of leather comes from cows, 15% from sheep, 11% from goats, and 9% from pigs. The rest, including exotic skins, make up only about 0.2% of the leather market. A few of these skins like turtle and elephant are either illegal today (turtle) or very strictly regulated (elephant).
Below are gorgeous examples of handbags made with some of the more exotic skins.
PS: for perspective, at the time of writing the Gucci sells for $4,500 and the Fendi alligator bag for $34,000! Any takers?
Photo credit: the photos below were sourced from various shopping sites on the internet.
