Take Care of Your Leather

Leather will always be classy. Always.

Coach was founded in 1941; for years, it was the gold standard of the leather world. Then, in a world more preoccupied with labels than quality, Coach became simply a brand, rather than a fine leather-crafting company. To make affordable Coach-marked products that could be sold to anyone who wanted an accessory with a 'C' on it, Coach started making their canvas-weave purses, shoes, and other brightly-designed products. Now, Coach is as commonplace as Levi jeans, but with half the quality. Frankly, I'm disappointed in what's happened to the Coach brand. It used to be the name in leather, synonymous with the fine hyde; now, it's simply a label. Don't get me wrong; Coach still makes some fine leather products, but watch out: Vinyl, canvas, and plastic aren't the high-quality materials that Coach once stood for. The name Coach used to ensure that you were getting the highest-quality leather available; Now, it means only that you can afford a C on your accessories.

Dooney & Burke and Fosail are two other leather companies that seem to be following the same trend; Once, their names were indicitive of fine Italian leather; now, they're simply labels, found on everything from courderoy to plastic.

Moral of the story: When buying accessories, go for quality over label. Ask the salesperson about where the leather came from and how its been treated, as well as how you should care for the accessory should you choose to buy it. Remember, it's not worth buying something nice if you're not going to take care of it. If you do buy leather products, buy leather cleaner and conditioner-- or get a free sample of Leather CPR.

Take care of your leather, and it will take care of you.