We accept:
All leathers are not created equal. That we can say with certainty. But many other things you read or hear about leather is far less certain. Leaning into our mission of “making products that are used and loved for as long as possible” means we have invested time, money and plenty of human-hours into bettering traceability across the leather industry, and sourcing the best leathers we can find. Our leathers are chrome-tanned cow leather, sourced only from gold-rated Leather Working Group (LWG) tanneries. But what does that even mean? Let’s take a look…
The Leather Working Group (LWG) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving practices within the leather industry. Established in 2005, the LWG brings together a diverse range of stakeholders including leather manufacturers, brands, retailers, and suppliers, to collaboratively enhance the environmental performance of the leather supply chain. Bellroy is proud to be a member of the LWG.
The LWG has a number of key initiatives and objectives which include:
LWG develops and maintains rigorous auditing protocols to assess the environmental management of leather manufacturing facilities, also known as tanneries. These audits are conducted every 24 months and cover various aspects, including: Water & Energy Usage; Solid Waste & Effluent Management; Air & Noise Emissions; Traceability; Health & Safety; Chemical Management; and Restricted Substances, Compliance & Chromium VI (CrVI) Management. Tanneries are awarded a score in each category, and an overall rating of gold, silver, bronze, approved or audited. Gold is the highest rating, and is only awarded to a tannery that achieves a high standard in each category. Bellroy only uses leather sourced from gold-rated tanneries.
Tanneries that meet the LWG's stringent standards receive certification, providing transparency and assurance to consumers and businesses regarding the environmental impact of their leather products.
LWG offers comprehensive guidelines and resources to help tanneries and leather producers adopt best practices, aiming to reduce their environmental footprint and improve overall operational efficiency.
LWG fosters collaboration and knowledge-sharing across the leather industry and advocates for responsible leather production, sourcing, transparency and ethical practices.
To the untrained eye, the terms below are almost interchangeable. In reality, there’s a big difference.
The top part of the hide, full grain leather holds its shape the best, is the strongest and most durable. Because full grain is left in a more natural state without any buffing back, it also needs to come from high quality, blemish-free stock. All of these factors mean that full grain is generally the most expensive part of the hide. We almost always use full grain leather.
Top grain leather is actually full grain that has been buffed back of any imperfections. It’s still high quality and is often as durable as full grain, depending on the amount of buffing it has received. Top grain can still be a suitable option, depending on the product and use case. We mostly use full-grain leather, but will consider top grain where it suits the product better (for example, where thickness and flexibility are critical to the product’s performance).
Technically, Genuine Leather is leather that has some extra layer of treatment to it, but not so much that it’s classified as ‘coated leather’ or ‘painted leather’. However, this term seems to have been hijacked by marketers who prefer to say ‘genuine’ instead of ‘cheap’. This means ‘genuine leather’ could be the split leather that’s the layer below top and full grain, which has less memory and doesn’t hold its shape as well. So, while ‘genuine leather’ is real leather, it’s generally of a cheaper quality than the rest. This type of leather is reasonable enough for some things, but not for carry goods. We never use this form of leather.
The basic perception out there is ‘vegetable tanned = good, chrome tanned = bad’. But, like most basic perceptions, the answer is more complex than that.
Vegetable-tanned leather means that the leather is treated with vegetable-based tannins to alter the structure of a hide. It produces leathers that look natural, gain personality over time and develop a rich patina. The leathers can also be very stiff. Plus, the process uses a lot more water and electricity than other types of tanning. It’s actually harder for tanneries who do vegetable tanning to get a gold rating for the industry’s environmental standards group – LWG – because of this.
Chrome-tanned leather means that the leather is treated with Chrome III – a mineral-derived compound that makes softer leather that’s more durable and stays looking new for longer. Tanning this way under the wrong conditions can generate the toxic Chrome VI, which is harmful to tanners and can also poison wastewater generated in the tanning process. Under the right conditions, however, this kind of tanning is considered on par with vegetable tanning in terms of toxicity – and the result is a longer lasting leather. Our leathers are chrome-tanned, for a longer-lasting finish. And sourced exclusively from gold-rated Leather Working Group tanneries – the highest category rating for social and environmental practices.
We continue to assess our materials, support industry advancements and explore the viability of leather alternatives where they make sense for our product range. We hope you’ll continue to follow our journey
Read more about our materials.
Read about the Leather Working Group.
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