Go to a leather shop and try buying an Italian leather belt product for the same price you would buy your local brand. All you will get is a sad smile from the salesperson. “This is genuine Italian leather so the price will be high.” So what makes Italian leather different and command a higher price tag, even compared with designer labels. According to industry experts the Italians are the best in the world at creating specialty leathers like a great moc croc. The primary distinction of Italian leather is its quality. Italian leather producers consistently produce very high quality products, in contrast with sometimes spotty production in other regions of the world. Hence most of the high-end designer labels sport the genuine Italian leather tag and people are ready to pay the price for these products.

Leather is made by subjecting the hide of an animal to a lengthy treatment process. People have been working with leather for thousands of years, and Italy has been famous for leather production for centuries. Florence is particularly famous for its leather, and in Milan, Italy’s fashion capital leather is used almost exclusively by high fashion houses. Italian brands tend to dominate the fashion scene. Gucci and Prada are just some of the popular brands that are associated with Italian leather.

Producers in Italy use a variety of labor sources, with much of the process of leather production being done by hand. Hides are carefully inspected before treatment, with only the best hides being accepted, and quality checks are carried out at every stage of the way. While the hides could be sourced from any part of the world, often times the hide is from a European country due to the quality of hide which arises from the method of rearing cows and of course the temperate weather. Many Italian producers specialize in full grain leather — leather from the top of the hide, which is famous for its suppleness and quality. Italian producers tend to use high quality dyes and chemicals in their products, producing consistent, durable, long-lasting leather products.
Another argument that is put forth for this ever-growing popularity of Italian leather is the fact that when pollution, health and safety laws came into affect a lot of tanneries the world over shut down. Further tanning was considered a filthy business hence very few companies got into the leather business. Italy decided to take on the tanning industry for the world and hides are now shipped in from everywhere. Now the high costs of production have forced Italian companies to ship its production units to China but the end product is still termed Italian leather.