I can’t help but think that maybe if you knew the history of leather you just might love it more.

Once upon a time, the early men lived a very hard life. They lived in caves, starved and slept naked in extreme weather conditions.

Imagine a life without houses to live, cooked food to eat, water heaters when its cold, air conditioner when it’s boiling hot, snacks, clothes to wear e.t.c  exposed to wild animals. Crazy huh?

But we are the smartest species on the planet aint we? So they started to kill smaller animals with bare hands for food and one day they pondered, wondered if they could use the skin of their kills for something else rather than just a food by-product. To protect themselves from cold, early man started to wrap leaves and animal skin around their body.

I like to think that it was this moment that started the beginning of a better life for humans.

From clothes, they thought “ why not make shelter “ so they made tents with animal skin but when its cold, the skin became too stiff and when it’s hot, it started to rot.

It was probably at this point that ideas started to spring up to find a way to strengthen and to make them stronger and flexible, they rubbed the skin in animal fats. This process today is called tanning.

Along the line, it was also discovered that the rotting of the skin can be avoided by drying the skin in the sun. This process eliminated the moisture in the skin that led to rot.

As men grew, these processes became more refined, efficient and started to spread till it got to Egypt where it was cherished and widely accepted by the Pharaohs and Queens who used as clothing, including sandals, gloves and ornaments and then to the Romans who crafted over shirts, footwear and armory out of this animal skin.

As men became more sophisticated, the processes for leather became more developed and in the 19th century, an alternative method was created where chemicals are used to streamline the processes and traditional methods mostly eliminated.

The present day leather clothing accessories has so much grown beautifully with great aesthetic pleasure from wallets, belts, keychains, book covers, phone cases, shoes e.t.c

My own version is, leather saved us and will continue to serve us. Whether for style or functionality, no matter how innovative we get, leather will always have a place in our culture.

So why on earth will you not love leather?