Leather is always considered as one of the high quality materials to make accessories such as shoes, sandals, bags, purses, belts, clothing, ... in the fashion world. With luxury, elegance and absolute durability, leather is always the first choice of fashion lovers. Both women and men fall in love with leather items. Surely, every man owns at least an accessory made of real leather, which is referred to as high-end men's leather shoes. But have you ever wondered about the origin of this expensive material? Let us tell you the story about leather.

In ancient times, prehistoric hunters kill animals for food, then took their skin to make simple sheds, clothes or shoes. The use of animal skins was first reported in the Stone Age, with drawings found in caves near the Spanish region of Lerida that described the use of leather for clothing. In excavation sites in the Stone Age, it was found that the hair was removed from the skin by the use of bone tools.

Skin needs to be preserved because it will quickly decompose and can not be used. The most primitive way to do this is to dry the skin on the ground, apply it to the fat and the animal's brain as it dries. This method has the effect of preserving and softening the skin. Prehistoric people also discovered that the smoke can preserve the skin when using the preparation of bark, branches, leaves and fruit containing tannins of certain plants. Humans first discovered the leather when they found the skin of animals left behind in a damp forest and the skin was naturally tarnished by chemicals derived from the decomposition of leaves and plants. However, long after that, the use of salt containing alum as a tanning method to soften skin was discovered. Alum stamens can be dyed with natural dyes from a variety of plants.

Figures and objects in ancient Egyptian tombs show that the leather was used for sandals, clothing, gloves, barrels, bottles, and shrouds to bury the dead. Leather was also used extensively for military equipment such as shields and saddles by ancient Greeks and Romans and it has played an important role as raw material used in industry ever since. Excavations of ancient Roman sites in England have yielded large numbers of leather goods such as footwear and clothing.

Leather production was brought into England by the Romans, and by religious communities, there were monks who were experts in making leather, especially parchment used for writing. Older Britons used leather for a variety of purposes from making shoes, clothing, leather bags, to making weapons such as the covered-with-leather ancient hull or baskets.

Leather production spread rapidly in the Middle Ages, most villages had a tanning plant on the banks of rivers or canals that they used as a source of water for leather production and energy for machinery working. Many of these tanneries are still in existence, but in many villages, the only evidence left is in the street names, such as Tanner Street, Park Street, Leather Street.