The Archive

Materials

The leathers we select, and why each one earns its place.

Three patterns, one substrate: the House's embossed vocabulary, named exactly.

Calf worked flesh-side out — the House's daylight surface, matte and deep.

The softest register in the House's vocabulary — full-grain calf, drum-softened, dyed through.

The mirror finish of the evening sandal, done properly: calf beneath, lacquer above.

The quill pattern of ostrich, rendered in full-grain calf — the Gulf's most recognised surface, made durable.

Smooth Italian calf, finished plainly — the most honest surface in the House's vocabulary.

The firm, fine-grained calfskin of the great European houses — chrome-tanned, aniline-dyed, ironed to a quiet sheen.

A calfskin finished the way conservators finish a manuscript — slow, deliberate, and almost entirely by hand.