Our Leather
The Athison collection is manufactured with vegetable tanned hide according to the most
traditional, natural and environmental-friendly process that was handed down by expert
craftsmen from the Egyptian and Roman times to produce footwear and apparel.
Tannin
The process is made of old recipes and advanced technology and is based on the use of natural tannins from trees, new technologies and the slow flowing of time. Tannin, which is the “heart” of the vegetable tanning process, is found in several species of trees and plants and gives a unique feature to tanned leather that makes it immediately recognisable.
Final products have a very natural look, smell good, and feel like crafts. They age without getting damaged, absorbing the traces of life, as a proof of their naturalness.
Vegetable tanning
In spite of the first impression given by its name, vegetable tanned leather belongs to animal skins (being a by-product of the food industry) and, if not suitably treated with the processes of the tanning industry, it can give rise to serious disposal issues.
No animals are killed only to obtain the hide to be tanned because the tanning industry is strictly related with the food industry.
Vegetable leather sustainability
This type of work is the perfect technique for all those who are looking for an anti-allergic, environmental-friendly product. It is free of toxic substances, such as azoic colouring agents, nickel or pentachlorophenol and chrome VI, which are harmful both for human beings and for the environment. In this way, the impact on health and on the environment is minimized during production, recycling and disposal.
Most of the substances that are used in vegetable tanning are recovered during production and transformed into fertilizers for agricultural use, whereas the final parts (muds) are largely used in the building industry.