There’s some old textured leathers that has such a special character that becomes so popular that it’s copied as embossed leathers by plenty of other tanneries. The old Russian reindeer found on the shipwreck of Metta Catharina is likely the most famous one, another one is the German tannery Carl Freudenberg’s Impala grain.
In the photo here is a shoe made by the London-based shoemaker William Efe Laborde, who have access to a limited stock of the original vintage Carl Freudenberg Impala leather. As many know the famous German tannery, most associated with it’s lovely box calf, closed down in 2002, even if some of it lives on as Weinheimer in Poland. Impala is a type of antelope where the lather has this lovely natural character, so no wonder it becomes so popular to recreate as embossed calf and cow leather.
