The journey of a hide: from German tradition to Vietnamese hands

There is no one-word answer to where our leather comes from. That is inconvenient for a brand, and it is still the only correct answer.

What comes from Germany

The raw material and the method. German hides come out of a closely regulated agriculture, and it shows: few parasite marks, few barbed-wire scars, even substance. For a leather with no coating over it, one that reveals every flaw, that is not a nicety. It is the precondition.

Then there is bark tanning itself. The way baths are graded from weak to strong, the timings, the tannin blends: that knowledge grew along the Rhine and in the Black Forest over centuries. We did not invent it. We apply it.

What happens in Vietnam

The finishing. Milling, dyeing, setting the grain and the hand, final inspection. This is the part decided by hand, hide by hide, and the reason we do it there is unspectacular: the artisans we work with are good at it.

Why we do not write Made in Germany

Because it would not be true. Origin marking follows the last substantial transformation, and for us that happens in Vietnam. Selling a leather finished in Vietnam as a German product would be legally exposed and factually wrong.

German tradition and materials, finished in Vietnam. It is a longer sentence than Made in Germany. It has the advantage of being true.

So we use the longer sentence. Anyone who wants to know exactly which batch came from which operation can ask and will be told. That is the kind of question we hope for.