From Pompeii to nowadays: the importance of choosing the right tanning for your belts
- Daniel Giaconia
- Apr 8, 2021
- 4 min read
The magical and historic Pompeii has never ceased to be talked about, especially since in 1748 the first archaeological excavations brought it to light after a long period of rest, which began in 79 AD. when the city was buried under a blanket of ashes and lapilli about six meters high from the eruption of Vesuvius.
In 1997 it also became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming in the following years the second Italian monument for visits after the museum system of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
It may be due to the charm and the stories that are preserved there that the ancient Neapolitan town has never ceased to be at the center of the news and it is curious that one of the latest concerns precisely leather and tanning.
The art of leather processing, in fact, represented an excellence of the Roman Empire, exported all over the world and Pompeii boasted one of the most important industrial production buildings.
But this is not the news I wanted to give you, also because you can find these information in any history book or on Wikipedia.
The incredible thing is that the remains of this building have been preserved and are now coming back to life thanks to a restoration and enhancement intervention which, by the spring of 2021, will be able to return it to the public.
Because is it important? Because it makes us understand more and more how tanning and leather processing are important for the history of man; an excellent starting point for the storytelling of your brand.
TANNING
But let's start from the basics: what is tanning?
Tanning is the treatment to which the fibers of the animal's hide are subjected to prevent them from rotting.
Today there are two types of tanning, the vegetable one and the chrome one.
Reconnecting to the charm of Pompeii and its tannery, I begin to talk to you about vegetable tanning, the oldest type of tanning, which was carried out as early as 800 BC, well before Pompeii and which was the only method used until 1800, with the appearance of chrome tanning.
VEGETABLE TANNING
What does vegetable tanning consist of? In practice, animal hides come through the use of tannins, natural substances found in nature, especially in chestnut, oak and mimosa woods; hence the name of vegetable tanning.
You know when you drink a wine and you have the feeling that you dry your mouth? Here, that is the action of tannins and particularly tannic wines are paired with fatty dishes to dry the mouth.
Imagine this effect amplified exponentially on the animal's skin: it gives it the typically rustic look of vegetable tanned leather and is perfect for your casual or sporty belt collection; plus if your brand has craftsmanship among its values, vegetable tanning is for you.
As I mentioned above, this behind the scenes on leather and vegetable tanning is not an end in itself; of course, it serves for your personal knowledge, but also and above all as part of the story you can tell your client.
Letting him know that your belts will be made with a material that uses a millennia-long process is something to obviously highlight in your communication: my staff and I can highlight it on hangtags, you on your website and on your social networks . In short, it is an extra weapon to differentiate you from your competition.
CHROME TANNING
The second type of tanning instead uses a mineral, namely trivalent chromium salts. It is a fairly recent method and much faster than the vegetable one: with a chrome tanning the hides are tanned in 3-6 hours while with a vegetable tanning the times are lengthened, up to 48 hours (in the past it was even a month).
Being faster it is also much cheaper and moreover it allows to work the leather with a much wider range of colors; in fact, the chromium salts have a green-blue color that gives the freshly tanned leather a color that tends to a very light blue, called in technical jargon wet blue, and this base lends itself to being worked in a very high range of colors.
On the other hand, vegetable tanning gives the leather a brownish color and this does not allow it to be used with very light colors.
Furthermore, chrome-tanned leather is very elastic and soft and it is no coincidence that 80% of the leathers you find on the market are chrome-tanned; this tanning also allows leathers and belts to be the same and it is important for you to know if you need your collection of belts to have models that are perfectly identical to each other and always repeatable.
Just to give you an example of materials, suede are chrome tanned and you recognize them precisely for the soft and elastic hand they have.
After so many aspects that you can define as advantages, a disadvantage is related to pollution: in fact, vegetable tanning using natural substances pollutes very little while chrome tanning (we are not talking about the toxic hexavalent chromium of course) pollutes more.
This is another aspect to consider based on your brand identity.
As you have seen, even in this case there are many factors to consider when choosing the type of tanning.
I can recap that you may prefer vegetable tanning if:
- You have a higher price range
- Your brand is casual, sporty or vintage
- The small differences between one belt and another are a strength for you
- Your brand wants to emphasize the aspect of craftsmanship
- Your collection does not include too many and only light colored belts
- Your brand is close to the sustainability of the product and processes
On the other hand, chrome tanning is for you if:
- If you have a lower price range
- Your brand is elegant or classic
- You need a soft and elastic material
- Your collection includes light colored belts
- Your belts must be exactly identical to each other
As always, if you need to clear your mind about your belt collection, write me on Whatsapp.
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