Lainie Schreiber is Creative Director at Latico Leathers, where she has designed bags since 1991. Latico has been family run from New Jersey since 1984, which means Lainie has been shaping the line for most of the company's history.

What she writes about here

Materials and construction. If a piece on this site explains a leather grade, how a hide is tanned, why a seam is reinforced where it is, what hardware is chosen and why, or how a bag changes over years of carrying, that is Lainie's subject. Buying guides and comparisons are written by Ben Schreiber.

• Full-grain leather, and how it differs from top-grain and coated material
• Tanning, and what LWG and REACH certification actually cover
• Bag construction: linings, reinforcement, stitching and hardware
• How leather ages, and why a patina is a property of the material rather than a finish applied to it

Why the distinction matters

Most writing about leather is written by people who have not made any. Thirty-five years of specifying hides, approving samples and seeing which construction choices survive a decade of wear is a different kind of knowledge from reading a spec sheet, and it is the reason the material claims on this site are stated as specifically as they are.

Latico Leathers, New Jersey. Full-grain leather, handcrafted in small batches, LWG and REACH certified.