What is vegetable tanned leather?

Human beings have been wearing leather clothes for thousands of years, and prior to the Industrial Revolution, there was only one way to turn animal hides into usable leather: a process known as vegetable tanning.

Unlike other types of leather - which are tanned using synthetic chemicals - vegetable tanned leather is tanned using natural plant-based materials such as bark, leaves and fruits.

To be clear: vegetable tanned leather is NOT the same thing as vegan leather, because while the tannins come from plants, the leather itself comes from an animal.

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