buckskin
Buckskin or smoke tanned leather, is the oldest textile known. It pre-dates cotton, wool & linen. Making it literally an ancient textile. It was commonly used by North American indigenous first nations, Europeans, Africans, Egyptians, Norwegians, Mongolians, Japanese & other cultures.
It is a naturally tanned leather, being smoked with dried wood from the forest I live next to. The hide is taken through a process dating back thousands of years. There are absolutely no harsh chemicals used through out the process, it is softened by hand with natural fats from animal brains, egg yolks or plant extract lecithin with water. It is stretched until it is dry where it comes out beautiful & white. Then, it is sewn into a bag & smoked intensely. The heat, in combination with the smoke leave a gorgeous, golden, caramel color. The suede has a beautiful aroma, smelling like caramel.
AKA Fusube, smoke tanned deer suede, chamois leather or the legendary term “Buckskin”.
I figured out how to clouds into a wearable textile! - jaydon
Buckskin Jacket made by me.
Being a handmade, traditional & natural leather. It’s healthy to wear against your skin & does not pollute the environment. By traditional, I mean I use historically accurate methods. Scraping & softening by hand, lots of elbow grease is involved.
It is the most comfortable thing you could possibly wear against your skin. Big claim, I know, but it’s not hard to make such a claim when it’s objectively true.
I’m one of, if not the only, person/businesses in New Zealand producing traditionally tanned buckskin. It is prepared completely by hand, with no machinery involved. Buckskin lost popularity around the industrial revolution due to it not being able to be mass produced. You can’t get machines to process buckskin, it must be done by hand.
It’s best used for clothing, bags, vests, jackets, pants, dresses. Want to order some? Get in touch & I’ll see what I can do.
for pricing & general inquiries, click button.
