High quality leather always has small variations, crease marks that have to do with the parts of the animal, wrinkles, bruises, even the bite of a mosquito can mark the leather. Those small marks are just those that show that leather is natural. Even when some unnatural leathers try to imitate those imperfections, they can never copy the sensation that comes from touching real leather. Aside from appearance, how the leather feels and handles is a big clue to its type. Aniline leathers feel like real skin - light and flexible - while a heavily pigmented (protected) leather can feel rather like plastic. The more imperfect the leather, the greater its quality and that imperfection is the demonstration of its nature.

Argentina has a history intimately linked with the production of meat and its leathers. It is a huge country that has a cow population greater than the number of inhabitants with 44 million people and almost 60 million heads of cattle. It's the 7th largest country in the world in surface, this makes livestock grow freely and feed naturally. The result of this breeding of excellence is in the quality of its leather. Argentina is one of the main world producers of beef and the production of leather is a consequence of the raising of livestock. Anyway, even with a huge amount of leather, only with its careful selection, the commitment that is treated with natural products for tanning and the passion that awakens its nobility, we can achieve the result of a product what improves with its use.

At Del Sur we are absolutely committed to taking care of the environment. The tanning industry is in itself an industry that contributes to the care of the environment since in fact what it does is to reprocess a waste of the meat industry and allows the manufacture of garments and products made with natural and non-synthetic fibers. But if the tanning processes do not use natural tannins or vegetable anilines can generate waste that damage the ecology. We only work with tanneries that have certifications granted by international organizations that guarantee the care of the environment. Of course, the fact of using quality leathers, with tanned and natural ones makes them more expensive, but the quality will also be superior. The leather industry utilities hides and skins, which, if the industry did not exist to process them, would create an enormous waste disposal problem, with the attendant health hazards. Leather is a renewable resource - if it was not produced, it would have been replaced by largely synthetic materials derived from non-renewable resources such as plastics and other petrochemical based products.

Yes! Leather is based on a renewable resource - hides and skins - which are otherwise unwanted by-products of the meat, dairy and wool industries, and which if they were not converted into leather, would present a huge disposal issue. Leather is an attractive, versatile and long-lasting material that is used in a very wide range of products. Modern technologies have been widely implemented to address recycling and recovery of water, chemicals and solid wastes and well run tanneries do not represent a significant environmental burden.

Natural anilines are products of natural dyes that are present in roots, leaves, bark, wood, etc. Most of our leathers are only dyed with natural anilines. In some cases, when you want to achieve some color options, synthetic anilines are also used in small quantities since the variations of natural colors are limited, but our line is designed on classic colors and designs, and that allows us to be able to use mostly leathers with natural anilines.

Our products are mainly in cowhide. Argentina is one of the main exporters of meat in the world and the production of leather is a consequence of that industry. The cattle in Argentina are developed and fed naturally from pastures of our land, that makes the leather have certain outstanding conditions such as its flexibility, durability, etc. In Del Sur we use leathers from tanneries that are certified by a worldwide organization that ensures that the processes of tanning do not harm the environment, but this type of naturally sustainable processes result in materials that last longer, that resist better the damage produced by its use and that do not affect in any way to whoever is using it, something that unnatural leathers or with chemical tanning can do.

Leather is a natural fiber and natural fibers change their structure over time. In the case of natural leather, the periodic use modifies and improves the structure of the fiber. This improvement can be seen in the flexibility and brightness that the product acquires with its use. But the change of the structure is not only aesthetic. The feeling, the touch of natural leather improves with the passage of time and use. The highlight is that this change is produced by the user, so that the process of change suffered by the leather is the result of an adaptation of the leather to the user. That is, the product improves adapting to its owner.

Please refer to the "Care and handling" section in this website.

• Store in a cool, dry, airy place. Do not store in polythene.
• Avoid direct and long contact with the sun or humidity.
• Keep the product in its original packaging (suede bag) if you are not going to use it for extended periods of time. Place it upright, with ink-free paper filling inside. Never stack the products. Even so, always allow some contact of the leather with the environment to avoid the accumulation of moisture. Do not keep your bag hanging from the handles as this can damage their leather and distort the product.
• Our products are delivered with a bag of Silica Gel. When storing your bag for extended periods, place the Silica Gel bag back inside. If your bag is older than 18 months since its purchase, replace the Silica Gel bag with a new one for storage.

Our products are 100% natural. Nature is in itself perfectly diverse. No leather is equal to another, because no animal is identical to another. Even selecting leather perfectly, natural leather tends to have imperfections, and it is precisely these imperfections that assure us that leather is perfectly natural. The highest quality leathers are not perfect, this, added to the fact that our products are made 100% by hand, makes each of our bags even from the same line absolutely unique and unrepeatable.

Our products are made 100% leather inside and outside. That is one of the main hallmarks of our brand. It is difficult to find products made of premium leather in the market, but it is much more difficult to find any that are made of leather outside and inside. This combination generates a unique and unparalleled quality sensation. At Del Sur we use only premium quality leather, and the type of leather we use, being a natural fiber improves with time. The more they are used they improve in their brightness, their flexibility and adapt to the user. That's why our collection has classic designs that can be used for a long time and never go out of style. So that our customers can enjoy the evolution of the material and can wear it and use it for a long time.

At Del Sur we are deeply committed to caring for the environment. The dyes that are used to dye our leather are mostly natural anilines. Natural anilines are just extracts of natural products such as roots, plants, barks, etc. This may limit us in the number of colors, but in our case, as our choice of designs is inspired by classic products that can be used for many years, the colors that natural dyes allow us to combine perfectly with our style and essence of our brand.

A product 100% made in leather, inside and outside. A product 100% handmade with a design that will never go out of fashion and whose quality can be noticed from afar. You are buying a natural product that is manufactured respecting the care of the environment. It is possible to replicate the leather, but it is impossible to copy the feeling produced by touching a natural leather. That's why when you buy a product from Del Sur you are buying a Premium quality product, unique, unrepeatable and absolutely Real.

We chose that phrase because we always think about transmitting that the products we make are made of real leather, with premium materials that do not try to reproduce leather, but are made of leather. And we say that it is real as Nature because just nature has those small imperfections and variations that make it Real. None of our products will be the same as another. Each one is unique and unrepeatable, like nature.

For millions of years the human being used leather to protect itself from the outdoor. Whether as clothing or housing, animal leather is present in the life of human beings since the beginning of its existence. The processes of tanning of skins that prevented their degradation and allowed their prolonged use have their origin thousands of years ago. The use of leather and the contact of our skin with animal leather is marked in our DNA. That is why when we touch the real leather, we have that special and unique sensation that refers us to our own genre. That sensation that awakens in our unconscious brings us back to our nature and it is precisely that feeling that is impossible to copy.

Cow skin is the leather most used by the leather industry for its thickness, strength, durability and flexibility, as well as its easy availability
Full grain leathers, Natural Leather

This is the upper layer of the skin, the outermost layer of the animal, which is in contact with the outside. This type of leather is the most expensive and of the highest quality. The skin completely natural and unmodified. The easiest way to determine if the leather is full grain is by looking for scars and small imperfections, such as scratches or insect bites. These natural imperfections indicate that it is a very high quality leather. This part of the skin of higher quality, with the passage of time, will develop a natural patina that will increase the beauty of the piece. These can be finished or unfinished leathers (complete aniline) and can be distinguished by placing a drop of water in a hidden area. If the water is absorbed quickly, with a darkening of the leather, then it is not finished, but if it remains on the surface it is a finished skin or it has been treated to make it water repellent.

Correct grain leather (Corrected Grain Leather):
This is the selection of full grain leather parts that show an excessive amount of scratches or scars. These sheets are then polished or sanded. The result obtained is an impeccable leather without natural scars with a smooth or practically smooth relief. In order to modify the surface and for certain uses, a false grain is stamped or engraved. The finishes can be semi-aniline or pigmented.

Suede:
It is the second layer or lower layer of the skin that remains after the extraction of the whole grain. It is then sanded to obtain a much softer leather. This leather is finer and more delicate against stains. This leather is often used for interiors.

Unnatural leathers
There are more types of leather such as reconstructed leather (Bonded Leather) made of leather fibers, patent leather (by-cast) leather and vinyl remnants or faux leather that is totally artificial. Del Sur does not use this type of leather.