Here at M.Hulot, we're about to start one of our favourite parts of the design and development process; sourcing and selecting the leathers.

The romantic side of me would love to travel to the international leather fairs or even better, direct to the tannery, but as a small brand we tend to work closely with UK agents for our Italian and Turkish skins.

I was browsing through some old holiday pictures and came across these images of tanneries in Marrakech, nearly 10 years ago now. Seeing the vats of veg dyes and the chalky, bleached out colours makes me feel inspired to begin the new season. 

For previous collections at M.Hulot we have used veg tanned hides, with very matt, clean surfaces, as well as hides where the colour is hand layered to the top side. As lovers of natural leathers we will continue to use vegetal tanning, but I feel it's time to to look at some new finishes- maybe even add a bit of  sheen! Existing styles and shapes could take on a whole new guise.

The first meeting is next Monday. Meanwhile, I 'm gathering images and ideas in preparation for some serious leather letching!

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