The Beauty of Longevity: Leather’s True Value

What's Inside

A Special Guest with a Rich Legacy

Falling in Love with Leather

The Emotional Value of Leather: A 60-Year-Old Bag

Understanding Leather Quality: Not All Leather is Created Equal

Teaching the Craft and Spreading Knowledge

The Trouble with “Perfect” Leather

The Magic of Vegetable-Tanned Leather

New Frontiers: Zeology and Compostable Leather

Caring for Leather: A Ritual, Not a Chore

Final Thoughts: Leather as a Conscious Choice

A Special Guest with a Rich Legacy

For the eighth and final episode of our on-the-go season of the LeatherTainment Podcast, we traveled once again to the Netherlands—but this time not to a farm, but to the workshop of a true leather artisan. Our guest: Noor Wentholt, a fourth-generation leather crafter whose family has been making leather goods in Amsterdam since the 1800s.

Before diving into the durability and longevity of leather, Noor shared the inspiring story of her lineage. Her family opened their first shop in Amsterdam over two centuries ago, and through six or seven iterations over the years, the craft has been passed down. Today, Noor continues the tradition—an unbroken chain of craftsmanship, care, and passion. As she puts it, “It wasn’t just the material that was durable—it was the passion that lasted generations.”

Falling in Love with Leather

Noor didn’t originally plan to follow in her ancestors’ footsteps. She studied at an art academy, where she first encountered leather. It was love at first touch. Only then did her father remind her of the family’s leatherworking heritage. Her journey began in earnest with her uncle, who specialized in repairing luxury leather goods—a skill that taught her the true character and lasting power of leather.

Unlike fast fashion or synthetic materials, leather tells stories, holds memories, and—if treated right—lasts a lifetime or more. This experience of learning the craft from family, alongside her formal education, created a unique foundation: rooted in history, but open to modern ideas of sustainability and design.

The Emotional Value of Leather: A 60-Year-Old Bag

Noor shared a powerful story about a current restoration project: a leather bag passed down from a customer’s aunt. The bag, over 60 years old, carries deep sentimental value. Rather than crafting a new one, Noor is carefully reconstructing the original, preserving not just the item, but the legacy within it. She even recorded the repair process so the customer could share it with his aunt—showing how leather is not just a material, but a vessel for memory.

This is what sets leather apart from many modern materials. Plastic-based alternatives tear, peel, and age poorly. Leather, on the other hand, weathers beautifully, adapting to its owner, gaining character, and often becoming more desirable with age.

Understanding Leather Quality: Not All Leather is Created Equal

In her years of working with leather, Noor discovered that not all hides—and not all leather terms—are the same. She warns shoppers to be cautious of vague labels like “genuine leather”, which often refers to split leather—a lower layer of the hide that lacks the natural protective grain.

Split leather is typically coated in plastic, and once stressed (especially if thinned for sewing), it tends to crack. Many belts, even from luxury brands, use this cheaper leather and disappoint customers when they break. By contrast, full-grain or top-grain leathers, especially vegetable-tanned, maintain durability and beauty over time.

Her advice to consumers: look for quality indicators like “full grain,” “vegetable-tanned,” or “aniline.” And remember—durability begins with what you choose.

Teaching the Craft and Spreading Knowledge

Noor now teaches leatherworking at a technical college in Amsterdam, guiding students training to become bag makers and shoemakers. Many of her students start by focusing only on surface appearance, not understanding leather structure. But over time, they learn to recognize quality, evaluate grain, and appreciate even the natural imperfections that give leather its soul.

Part of her mission is to educate beyond her classroom—to empower consumers to feel, smell, and understand the material so they can make better purchasing choices.

The Trouble with “Perfect” Leather

A significant topic we discussed was the modern obsession with flawless leather—a trend largely driven by luxury fashion houses. To achieve this pristine look, brands often use only the top 30–40% of each hide, discarding the rest. While that might look perfect, it’s extremely wasteful.

Noor and other artisan brands, however, are finding ways to strategically place less pristine parts of the hide in areas like bag linings or the underside of flaps—places not easily visible. She notes that while some customers expect perfection, many are open to natural variations once educated about their origin and meaning.

This balance between function, beauty, and sustainability is where true craftsmanship shines.

The Magic of Vegetable-Tanned Leather

When asked about her favorite leather type, Noor didn’t hesitate: vegetable-tanned leather.

Not to be confused with vegan leather, vegetable tanning is an ancient, natural process that uses tree bark, leaves, and other organic materials. This method results in durable, biodegradable leather that develops a unique patina over time—a natural shine and darkening that reflects the life of the wearer.

Vegetable-tanned leather doesn’t need heavy reinforcements. Its stiffness gives natural structure to bags, allowing makers to minimize synthetic fillers and foams. It’s also the most environmentally responsible tanning method available—free from chrome and heavy metals.

New Frontiers: Zeology and Compostable Leather

Noor is also collaborating with the Dutch tannery Rompra on an innovative tanning method called Zeology. This mineral-based, metal-free tanning process produces compostable leather—another step toward a fully circular system.

Imagine this: a leather bag made from waste hide, used for decades, repaired when needed, and finally, once it’s truly worn out, returned to the earth as compost. That’s the future Noor is helping to build.

Zeology not only offers environmental benefits but also helps mitigate issues around wastewater pollution—especially in developing regions where regulations are lax. If chrome tanning waste ends up in rivers, it can cause massive harm. With Zeology, the potential impact is far lower.

Caring for Leather: A Ritual, Not a Chore

Longevity requires maintenance. Noor recommends using natural leather creams every two months—similar to moisturizing your skin. She emphasizes that caring for leather isn’t just upkeep—it’s an opportunity to build a relationship with your item, extending its life and deepening its meaning.

This maintenance knowledge is now part of her teaching curriculum too. As she says, a leather bag can last 60+ years only if you treat it like something worth preserving.

Final Thoughts: Leather as a Conscious Choice

This episode closes out a season-long journey of exploring leather from every angle—its environmental footprint, animal welfare implications, production methods, and now, its enduring value. The message is clear: leather, when responsibly sourced and cared for, is not just sustainable—it’s timeless.

We’ve heard from farmers, scientists, artisans, and industry veterans. We’ve seen 60-year-old bags brought back to life. And we’ve dismantled the myth that leather is inherently unethical.

In a world filled with cheap, disposable materials, leather stands apart—not just for its strength, but for its storytelling power and emotional resonance.