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Full Grain Podcast with Nick Horween and Phil KalasAuthor: Phil Kalas, Nick Horween
For leather nerds! The finest leather, boots, shoes, bags, raw denim, drinks, watches, and more. Leather tannery veterans Nick Horween (5th generation, Horween Leather) and Phil Kalas (Founder, Ashland Leather) cover manufacturing, leather, boots, denim, everyday carry and the talented people who are creating the world's finest products. Get the inside scoop and a greater understanding for high quality goods with a new episode released every week. Language: en-us Genres: Arts, Business, Entrepreneurship, Fashion & Beauty Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Q&A Episode: How Horween Grades Their Leather
Tuesday, 30 December, 2025
How do the world’s best tanneries stay consistent, and what happens when they experiment with things like squid ink?In this episode of the Full Grain Podcast, Phil and Nick pull back the curtain on the technical side of Horween leather. We dive deep into the confusing world of leather grading systems—explaining exactly what stamps like TR, SP, and Satra mean for the final product.We also tackle the manufacturing "nightmares" of one-piece shell cordovan belts, the risks of tying your entire brand identity to a single tannery, and why Phil is considering putting denim inside his next high-end leather bag.In this episode, we discuss:Squid Ink & Tanning: The weirdest substances used to dye leather.The Grading Secret: Decoding Horween’s internal stamp system (TR, SP, R, and Satra).Shell Quality Tracking: How individual "shaver stamps" ensure quality control at the tannery.The One-Piece Belt Problem: Why shell cordovan belts are so expensive and hard to make.Brand Strategy: The pros and cons of being "The Horween Brand" vs. an independent maker.Design Choices: Using denim liners in bags and managing dye transfer on Dublin leather.Bonus: Nick gives Phil a "Personal Trainer" breakdown on functional strength and weightlifting for longevity.Have a question for our next Q&A? Drop a comment below! We will be sourcing our next round of questions directly from the YouTube comments section.Get a wallet that is made for patina and is guaranteed for life. Ashland Leather has you covered. https://ashlandleather.com/The world's finest leather. Check our Horween Leather. https://www.horween.com/https://linktr.ee/fullgrainpodcastemail questions to fullgrainpodcast@gmail.comSupport the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2055770/supportSupport the show
