let's talk about our leather
Way back in 2011, Hord always had a few fundamentals at its core and they carry through with us today. Our ethos is to always create items that will last and be cherished across generations.
REPURPOSING A BY-PRODUCT
This also crosses over into our use of materials. My work started out from a bag of leather remnants destined for landfill which were then transformed into beautiful relics that told a story. To this day we still use every last bit of our leathers, combining them into our unique flasks assembled from multiple leathers to making our patches and corner bookmarks. Whenever we prototype a product, we work out another that will utilise the leftover leather from cutting.
All of the full hides that we purchase are by-products of the food industry, sourced from the UK, Europe and Horween leather from America. Each hide is full grain and vegetable tanned where possible, making sure we use biodegradable materials and less water consumption. When dyeing our leathers we also use water based dyes and pigments.
so exactly what is full grain leather?
Full grain leather is the only type of leather we use here at Hord, It is the strongest and most durable leather you can find. The hide has not been sanded or buffed to remove any marks and the entire thickness of the skin is used. These leathers age well, softening, mellowing and gaining a patina over time.
THE FUTURE
There are some fascinating developments in materials as time progresses and the now that the world has switched its focus on to the planet, we are excited to see what changes may come into the fold. This means we are always on the look out for interesting leather alternatives that are biodegrade and tanneries that use better farming practices and tanning techniques.