Fashion leather gloves blog

GSG has chosen Pittards WR100X leather for all of its glove styles because from the raw material selection to the finished leather it’s treatment has created the world’s ultimate gloving leather.This is also a process to make men and women leather gloves.

Using a unique blend of modern science and traditional craft skills, the manufacture of leather with the properties we require is a highly technical business undertaken by skilled craftsmen.

Raw material selection

The acknowledged superior material for making leather gloves and therefore the Signature choice comes from the "CABRETTA" (Hairsheep) from Ethiopia and other sub tropical regions.

This material offers a range of distinct features - its thin tough structure giving strength and allowing maximum dexterity along with superb durability and ultimate comfort.

To ensure continuity of supply and quality, Pittards have staff permanently resident in Ethiopia working with local farmers and tanners. The skins purchased are all by-products of the meat industry in the country of origin.

Tanning

After removing the hair, all skins must be tanned. This is the all-important process that turns them into leather. It converts the skin into a stable, consistent material that can be worked on in many ways to produce different leather types.

Wet blue

After tanning, the resulting product is a distinctive blue shade - therefore known as the ‘Wet Blue’. This is a function of the chrome (III) salt used in the tanning process. The skins are then dried and sorted according to type, weight and quality. This sorting ensures that only the very best material for the particular product is used in the manufacturing process.

Dyeing

After the material has been sorted it is dyed into the required shade. This process starts to impart to the leather some of its final characteristics. Different processes produce different properties in the leather. For example, leather that needs to be very water repellent will require a special treatment. The unique Pittards WR100 process requires a number of these special processes to ensure properties are permanently tanned right through the leather.

Finishing

Once dyed, the leather is dried and further worked to develop the natural inherent suppleness and only then is it ready to be made into Signature leather driving gloves .