We use vegetable-tanned leather to line almost every Fado Made accessory because of its versatility, durability, and neutral color. Vegetable tanning is an organic process that ensures sustainability in your leather goods, so you can be sure they will last for a long time.

Veg-tanned leather is made by using vegetable tanning agents to replace the water found within the fibers of raw animal hides. This process alters the protein structure of the skin and turns it into durable leather. Initially, vegetable-tanned leather is stiff, but it will soften over time and age gracefully, developing a unique character, also known as ‘patina’.

Please note that your newly purchased Fado Made accessory may require a few weeks to break in. Although we make every effort to ensure that your leather goods are ready to use when you buy them, they may need some time to stretch and mold to your preferences, particularly our wallets.

At Fado Made Co., we mostly use chrome-tanned leather for the exterior of our accessories because of its wide variety of options. This type of leather is treated with chromium sulfate to preserve animal skin and protect it from rot, making it a soft and durable material. It also provides many options and finishes, allowing for unique customization.

While it is not as eco-friendly as vegetable tanning, many tanneries have made efforts in recent years to reduce its environmental impact. Chrome-tanned leather is highly resistant to water, stains, and heat, making it incredibly reliable and long-lasting.

In Fado Made products, we use mainly top-grain and pull-up types of chrome-tanned leather.

Top-grain leather is a type of chrome-tanned leather that comes from the top or outermost layer of a hide, just below the hair. This layer of the hide is relatively smooth and uniform in texture. Top-grain leather is distinct from full-grain leather, which retains the entire grain layer of the hide, including natural markings and imperfections.

Pull-up leather is a type of chrome-tanned leather that has been treated with oils, waxes, and dyes in a way that creates a unique distressed or “pull-up” effect when the leather is stretched or pulled. This effect causes the color to lighten in areas of stress or bending, giving the leather a vintage or aged appearance. Pull-up leather is characterized by its rich, natural look and its ability to develop a beautiful patina over time with use.

If you’d like us to use vegan-friendly materials, we’re happy to offer fabric-lined cork as a leather alternative. This leather alternative is made from 100% Portuguese cork and lined with a cotton-polyester blend fabric.

Please specify your request for a leather alternative in the Custom Order Form.

At Fado Made Co., we use 1mm leather cord to create our signature stitched look in all of our accessories. To make the cord, leather strips through a tool called a rein rounder, which gives it a round shape.

We offer two types of leather cords – regular and naturally dyed. Regular dyed cords undergo a three-part process, where the cord is coated in dye, heat-sealed, dyed again, heat-sealed once more, and then finish-coated. These cords have a consistent and shiny appearance, and we even offer metallic finishes.

The naturally dyed cords, on the other hand, are dipped in dye to absorb the color, rather than being coated with color. They are then heat-sealed. This type of cord tends to be more pliable due to the absorption process and may have a less vibrant appearance in color, sometimes even appearing tie-dyed.

To see more options, please take a look at our vendor, leathercordusa.com.

At Fado Made Co., we use YKK zippers exclusively on all our accessories that feature a zipper. We have chosen YKK because of its superior quality and long-lasting durability. If you want to learn more about YKK zippers, please refer to our blog post.

Most accessories made by Fado Made come with hardware that is made of solid brass, zinc alloy, or gold steel. All of these options are highly durable, functional, and of high quality. Although we typically use gold hardware, you are welcome to request a different finish while placing a custom order. You can specify your preferred finish in our Custom Order Form.