Credit: Gucci
For the more observant, the clues were all there, but it was with the launch of Gucci's Holiday campaign featuring Jannik Sinner lying in the snow with a shiny silver Keepall duffle bag next to him that it became clear to everyone: metallic leather is definitely a big trend this season.
Nearly every luxury brand has incorporated at least one accessory in this material, which is definitely not very Quiet Luxury but gives a unique character and has the characteristic of spoiling very little.
How is this metal effect achieved? Until a few years ago it was done exclusively through film applied to leather, but the resulting product has a high risk of deterioration because it suffers from temperature changes and scratches.
“We now make liquid laminate, which doesn't have any of these problems,” says Giancarlo Tentella of New Overlord Tannery. “After buffing the leather and making it uniform and homogeneous, a double impregnation treatment is done and then grouted so it is ready for color application. It also takes 16 passes of Gemata to achieve the mirror effect that makes the leather look like metal, being very careful with the powder so that it does not settle on the leather while applying the metallic.”
