Material Matters: Leather Part 1

Shoes have always been made of leather – it’s tough and provides long lasting protection against adverse weather conditions, it’s easy to work with and it’s always been available. The story of leather trails off into mystery thousands of years ago, but we do know that the oldest pair of leather shoes ever discovered is 5,500 years old – that’s 1,000 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza. People had always sought ways to preserve and prolong the use of animal skins and eventually they discovered the tanning processes used to produce leather – which, to this day, remains largely unchanged.