DEER SKIN

Yukichi Fujioka Honten, a tanner who specializes in deerskin, is always indebted to me.

Fujioka has a long history, and is a long-established store that has been in business for over 130 years.





On this day, I went to visit deerskin for the first time in many years to hear about the past and future of deerskin, as well as various other stories.

The destination was not a factory in Nara that actually tans leather, but an antenna shop in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo.





Many beautifully tanned deerskins are hung and displayed.

Even if the raw leather is the same, the finish varies depending on the tanning process and surface treatment.

At the moment, there are no plans for new developments using deerskin at Head Factory, but I still get excited and fascinated when I see good materials in front of me.

There are a wide variety of leather materials in the world, and among them, deerskin is particularly unique, and the balance between supple elasticity and tear strength is outstanding.
It has excellent breathability and was used as a fuel filter for aircraft during the war, and it has a silky surface that feels gentle to the touch.

By the way, cashmere is described as a "fiber jewel", so I thought that deerskin could be called a leather jewel, but it seems that the cordovan part of horse leather is described as a leather jewel. It's confusing.

Another feature of deer leather, or rather of deer ecology, is the large number of scratches on the surface.

Since it is very difficult to avoid all of these when making leather wear, Head Factory emphasizes the texture of the material, fiber density and thickness, and forcibly avoids fine surface scratches and stains. I didn't make any decisions.

For this reason, it is not uncommon for the product to have scratches or stains somewhere in it.


There are two main types of leather surface treatments: pigment finishing and dye finishing.

Each has its pros and cons, and currently Head Factory uses deerskin with a dye finish.

This is because we want to deliver the high-quality texture of Fujioka tanners as it is.





A jacket made of deerskin with such characteristics has a gentle finish that can be worn without hesitation.

Please check the unique touch of deerskin.


[Ichishima]