What makes ZANACCO unique, are the materials we use and the processes applied to the “ingredients”, which are carefully selected for our collections. Although all materials are indispensable, leather is by far the single most important material in the manufacturing process.
All the leathers used at ZANACCO are vegetable tanned and they are handled with the utmost care throughout each individual process from the Italian masters of San Miniato. The leathers pass from one artisan to another across 10 different departments and can be processed up to 17 times before they meet with the shoe makers in Vigevano.
Vegetable tanning is an artisan tradition that the tanneries associated to the Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather Consortium have handed down from father to son for over 200 years, using both antique recipes and state-of-the-art technology.
A remarkable process based on the use of natural tannins extracted from chestnut or Argentinean quebracho trees, on modern technologies and machineries and, mainly, on the slow passing of time. Nearly forty days are actually needed to transform raw hides into unique vegetable-tanned leathers.
Among the various tanning methods, the vegetable tanning is still nowadays the most classical, the most traditional, the most recognisable, the only one able to give leather unique characteristics, the most natural and the most environmental-friendly.
Vegetable-tanned leather productive cycle is strictly monitored to ensure a low impact on the environment. No animal is killed for its skin.
Being tanned with natural tannins, a vegetable-tanned product can be easily recycled at the end of its life, thanks to its chemical-biological characteristics. Many of the substances used during the tanning process are recovered, recycled and reused in different fields. Salt used for preservation and storage of raw hides arriving to the tannery is recycled and reused as de-icer on the streets.
Hair removed from raw hides is transformed into agricultural fertilizer whilst sludge produced by the depuration plants is reused in the construction field to make bricks. Vegetable-tanned leather, recognizable from its trademark, does not contain any toxic substances such as azo-dyes, nickel, PCP or chrome VI and is highly tolerable for those who suffer from metal related allergies.
Amongst all the leather we use the most extraordinary is the vegetable tanned camel leather we have introduced to our Spring Summer 2011 collections.
The camel skins come from the Middle East – Gulf Region – known as Camelus Dromedarius. They are regularly farmed for their meat or used as working animals, their by-product leathers are then utilized in other industries such as leather goods and footwear.
Due to the climate and the surrounding environment, their skins bring all signs of their lives, making each individual cut unique. It is extremely important to understand this characteristic as the final products are of rare beauty and exceptional quality.
to be continued…
