Leathers & Fabrics

Our Raw Materials

Leather is the most important building block of each men's shoe, and its production is a process that requires masterful skill. The following rule of thumb holds true for all quality men's shoes: the more the leather has been processed, the higher it is in quality. And this comes, naturally, at a price. Roughly 47 percent of the production costs involved in making a men's shoe are due to the costly raw material.

Yellow Door Shoes® calf tanneriescome from North West Spain, Germany and Italy.

The types of leather below representa full array of leather skins. They are all used in luxury shoe production andthey differ from the "look" and "texture" point of view.

Box Calf

Most quality men's shoes are made from thehides of calves. Box calf is primarily distinguished by its fineness,pliability, and grain. Box Calf leathers are hand painted by our artisans.

Painted Calf Leather

Crust calf leather (painted calf)enables our artisans to hand paint the pieces with special creams and brushes.The look is very artisanal. Our raw materials are sourced from a tannery in Italy(same crust material used by Santoni, Berlutti, Andres Sendra, among manyothers Raw leathers are then hand painted by our artisans.

Besides the "plain"Painted Calf leather, we also offer it engraved with different textures, likefull grain or pebble grain.

Patent Leather

A type of leather finish whereby the surface is treated to create a highly glossy, shiny appearance.

Kid Suede

Kid Suede is the most soft, velvety suedeleather type which comes from small goat skins. The skins are small whichincreases the price of leather (consumption per pair). It has a more refinedfinish with a smaller grain on the surface.

Calf (Luxe) Suede

Also called "Suede" or "LuxeSuede". This leather is created from the underside of the animal hide, asa result it is softer, and more supple and can have the appearance of a"furry nap".

Velvet

Lightweight, supple leather made up of themost outer layer of a hide, the surface is buffed to give the grain a lightvelvety finish called a "nap".

Alligator Genuine Skin

“Alligator mississippiensis” skin renders a very attractive and fashionable leather. The leather is strong, supple, durable and very expensive. A bony layer within the skin adds a protective shield, while a dimple on each scale makes a very exotic look.

Hailing from the Southeast USA and frequently harvested from farm-bred gators as well as from wild animals,American alligator skin is a classic, durable and versatile leather. The American alligator’s hide is the soft and more pliable material. This is because the skin of this reptile is less bony than the skin of crocodiles. This softness makes the alligator’s skin easier to work with than the skin of other reptiles, making it easier to work with for cutting, stitching and folding.

Ostrich Genuine Skin

Ostrich leather is one of the fine stand most durable leathers. It’s a luxurious leather well known for its softness, flexibility and durability. Despite of its softness, Ostrich leather is unsurpassed for its tactile strength. It is, in fact, one of the strongest leathers available. Naturally occurring oils in the leather contribute to its durability, preventing cracking, even under extreme temperatures and sun exposure.

The main distinguishing feature of ostrich leather is the quill or feather socket markings. The “full quill” area of the leather is the most sought after and therefore the most expensive type of ostrich leather. The quill pattern is the result of large follicles which each contained a feather.

Python Genuine Skin

Snake skins are very desirable for shoes because of the unique grain, scales, and color patterns. Snakes are skinned in two ways,cut down the belly scales leaving the small scales in the center, “belly” or“front” cut python, and cut down the back leaving the wide belly scale in the center, called “back” cut python. We use the “front” cut python.

The scales were the snake's protection from the elements and are essentially like a callous, dead skin. The size of the scale will vary depending upon the area of the skin cut. The scales have a “lip” open toward the tail will grab and aid the snake in crawling. This lip is your assurance that the snake is genuine.

Linen

Sartorial Materials

We offer a full array of sartorialfabrics, flannels and velvets. Sartorial patterns like Tweed, Plaid, Tartan,Herringbone, Leopard, etc.

The result of mixing these sartorialmaterials with classic hand painted leather in a shoe, can be trulyastonishing.