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Leather care and storage for retail stock
Most leather damage in a retail chain happens in the stockroom, not on the customer's foot.
Leather is hygroscopic: it takes up and gives off moisture with the air around it. A stockroom that swings between humid and dry cycles the material, and over months that shows as surface cracking on the grain, particularly on corrected grain finishes.
Direct sunlight on a display sample fades dyed leather unevenly, which is why a window-displayed pair often will not match the stock behind it by the end of a season. Rotating display stock is cheaper than marking it down.
Stacked boxes crush toe boxes on unstructured casual styles. Where a programme includes soft unstructured uppers, the stacking limit should be agreed with the retailer rather than assumed, because the damage appears at the point of sale and is blamed on manufacture.
Specifications
| Main risk | Humidity cycling in the stockroom |
|---|---|
| Second risk | Sunlight fading display stock unevenly |
| Third risk | Stacking crushing unstructured toe boxes |
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Leather types used in footwear and accessories
Full grain, corrected grain, split and bonded are different materials, not quality grades of the same one.
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Cemented, Goodyear welted and injection construction differ in repairability, price and how the shoe ages.
Sizing and lasts for export footwear programmes
A size run is a grading decision made once on the last, and getting it wrong shows up as returns rather than as complaints.
Send us the style you want made
A sketch, a tech pack or a reference pair is enough to start. You will get a sample in thirty days and one contact who carries the style from there to shipment.