Salmon leather is a premium option for making quality leather goods. Made out of salmon skin, which is a byproduct of the fish processing industry, salmon leather is therefore a repurposed material that would otherwise be discarded. There are many qualities that make salmon leather ideal in performance and aesthetic. It is stronger and more flexible than its cow leather counterpart, yet is softer and comparable in texture as snakeskin leather. What makes salmon leather stronger and more durable is that it has a natural cross-fiber structure unlike the fibers in cow leather, which only run in one direction. Though the industry has had an enthusiastic resurgence as of late, the practice of making fish leather clothing is ancient. Hunters and gatherers in Iceland would make shoes out of fish skin by scraping the skin off, stretching and cutting the material accordingly, then drying the material on the feet of the person who would wear the shoes.The Hezhe ethnic tribe, or Nanai people, of the Far East, is known as the “fish leather tribe”, for they mostly subsisted on fishing and would make their traditional clothes out of fish leather. Some of the earliest accounts of the Hezhe culture date back to 18th century. The ensemble above is made out of salmon leather and decorated in traditional Hezhe patterns.Salmon leather is produced, in small and large amounts, in countries that already have established salmon industries like Ireland, Iceland, Chile, and Alaska. In these countries, there’s a history of fish leather manufacturing as cottage industry. The leather has been used for clothing and accessories like gloves and shoes, as well as to upholster car, boat, and jet seats, and used to cover and protect books and cell phones.But the possibilities to use salmon leather are plentiful and many have yet to be explored. Take the way in which designer Isaac Mizrahi took up the challenge of working with salmon leather. Known for designing refined women’s wear, Mizrahi created an ivory short chiffon dress and accompanying jacket that trails to the floor, both of which feature textured salmon leather pailletes, or sequins, throughout. The salmon leather pailletes cover the entire ensemble, which give it a striking sheen that mimicks the scales on a fish. Materials in this article
Red Metallic Salmon Leather
$ 12.00 / SqFt
<p class="country">From Iceland</p>