Hola 🥰
Many of my friends have asked whether Bomboná uses real leather, and what kind of leather? Is it Nature Leather and which layer of the leather is used? A lot of people have heard of Genuine leather and Full Grain leather, but they are not sure of their difference. Today, let’s explain more 🌼
Best Leather in Colombia?
First of all, Bomboná’s signature bag comes from the century-old Colombian coffee saddlebag, a traditional bag born out of the history of Colombian coffee and an essential travel bag for muleteers picking -up coffee from several coffee farms and transporting it to be processed. Our products are entirely made in Colombia, our bags are created in Nariño, we source our leather locally and we only use leather which is a by-product of the farming industry in Nariño.
Nariño is located in the southernmost part of Colombia, which has long been a high mountain coffee producing region, and because of its high altitude, sunny and warm climate, its cattle are less prone to disease and mosquito bites, making it one of the best leather producing regions in Colombia and even Latin America, this is why we have chosen to source our leather from Nariño.
Bomboná only uses Full Grain Leather and we want to explain to you the difference between leather types- Full Grain Leather, Top Grain Leather and Genuine Leather. To sum it up, each type of leather uses a different layer of the leather and the ultimate difference is its quality 👌
1. Genuine Leather (lowest in quality)
Generally refers to genuine leather made from various types of animal skin. In terms of cowhide, this kind of leather is usually lower quality than the head and top layer cowhide, because it is made from the lower layer of animal skin or other impurities, durability, softness or luster are slightly inferior, but is still better than man-made materials, so it is used in some cheap leather goods, shoes, leather bags and other products. It should be noted that the tag “Genuine Leather” that we commonly see in all sorts of products does not mean that high quality leather was used, but only that the most lower layer of the animal leather was used.
2. Top Grain Leather (second-highest quality)
Uses the outermost part of the cowhide but removes the top layer of the hide which can have natural marks or scars. Therefore will have a smoother or uniform appearance, but by removing the outer layer and becoming thiner, it will also lose the most durable outside layer, impacting its quality and longevity..
3. Full Grain Leather (BEST QUALITY)
Uses the top layer of the hide and keeps all of the natural grain, so it will be thicker than Top Grain Leather, more durable and look more natural having a more textured appearance. After being used for a long time, its texture will becomes softer and shinier. This is the highest quality leather you can find, so its price will be relatively high but because of its durability it will often be used in high-end leather goods, furniture, and shoes and other products. All of Bomboná’s creations are made from Full Grain Leather from the Nariño region. This is might be the reason why many of our customers often mention that they love the texture of our leather and the natural wrinkles and folds; of course, some of our pieces inevitably have some natural leather flaws, but t
Finally, some of you may ask, “I want my bag to be flawless, can I remove or avoid such natural leather flaws? We would like to leave this question for the next article where we will talk about Bomboná’s brand philosophy and sustainability 😉
