Indian Leather Garment Suppliers

Leather is derived by tanning the skins and hides of animals. The tanning process converts the putrefiable skin into a versatile and durable natural material that can be used for several purposes. Leather garments are often used in rugged occupations due to the leather's excellent abrasion and resistance properties. In the early days, when motorcycle riding was a craze in the US, people started wearing leather jackets in order to protect themselves from high velocity wind and road rash. Leather caps and pants were used to protect the lower body. The most prominent user of leather garments are cowboys. Certain sports use leather garments for protecting the players from injuries. Leather garments are considered as a fashion statement. China, accounting for sixty-five percent of global leather garments exports, is the largest volume manufacturer of leather garments in the world.

Leather can be used to make several types of garments, such as Leather Jackets, Bomber Jackets, Fashion Jackets, Ladies Jackets, Sports Jacket, Racing Jackets, Leather Coats, Leather Waistcoats, Leather Overcoats, Leather Pants/Trousers, Leather Caps, Leather Gloves, Leather Skirts, Leather Midis, Leather Socks, Leather Belts and so on.

The leather manufacturing process is divided into 3 basic procedures, viz. preparatory stages, tanning and crusting. In the initial stages, removing hair, splitting, soaking, re-liming/de-liming, preservation, pickling, liming, frizing, fleshing, de-pickling, de-greasing, bleaching, bating is done. Tanning turns the skin/raw hide into a soft and strong material which does not putrefy and is used in variety of applications. The major difference between tanned and raw hides is, raw hides dry and form a hard inflexible material that could putrefy, on re-wetting (or wetting back). The tanned material dries out to a be a flexible form that does not become putrid on re-wetting, and is used to make leather garments.

There are several procedures of tanning the leather to make leather garments. The skin/hides is dipped in a drum to soak. the tanning liquor filled in it which gradually penetrates into the hide. To check the penetration, sections of a hide is cut to see the even quantity of penetration. This method is known as basification. The pH of the leather when chrome tanned would typically finish somewhere between 3.8 to 4.2. This procedure fixes the tanning material to the leather to higher hydrothermal stability, increasing the shrinkage temperature resistance of the leather.

Crusting is the softening and drying operations. In crusting the leather is lubricated, thinned and re-tanned. The chemicals added during crusting have to be fixed in place. It include whitening, wetting back, stuffing, stripping, staking and buffing, splitting, shaving, setting, shimmying, re-tanning, re-chroming, neutralization, milling, fixating, filling, fat-liquoring, dyeing, drying and conditioning. Surface coating is applied, which tanners refer as finishing. Finishing again means brushing, buffing, curtain coating, embossing, glazing, impregnation, ironing, ironing/combing (for hair), oiling, padding, plating, polishing, roller coating, spraying, tumbling, etc.

Manufacturing leather garments from raw leather needs delicate craftsmanship. Puckering must be avoided. Sharp knives (instead of scissors) are used for cutting to give a cleaner look to it. Stitching is done with synthetic yarns. The use of AZO dyes is not permitted in many countries; it is banned in Europe. Latest machines are employed to ensure straight and parallel stitching. Interlining has to be in a quality standard equal to the whole garment. Re-enforcement is added in pockets. Leather finish must be soft, natural, and pleasant. The finish should be resistant to rain as well as sun-light. Black and brown have traditionally been the favorite colors of leather. Tones and shades of gray, cream and beige are also preferred. Leather garments are fast becoming a real fashion statement all over the world.

If you are looking to contact suppliers of Leather Garments from India then I would suggest you to use the services of b2b portal like tradeindia.com. This site has comprehensive database of Leather Garments from India and offer different services for buyers and sellers of Garments.

By: Rajni Sharma

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Rajni Sharma, writer and researcher, provides a fascinating insight into the various industry sectors through her extensively researched articles. She is currently employed with tradeindia.com, a leading b2b portal.