MATERIALS

EXPLORE A WORLD OF LUXURY MATERIALS

Palmer James has a vast collection of over 300 materials to suit your individual style, including suedes, sartorial fabrics, hand painted leathers, handmade patina crust, polished calfs, patent leather, and more. Our partners supply the highest tier of raw materials so that your custom good can be exclusively yours.

LEATHER

Leather is the most important building block of each shoe, and its production is a process that requires masterful skill. The following rule of thumb holds true for all quality shoes: the more the leather has been processed, the higher it is in quality — and this comes, naturally, at a price. Approximately 47 percent of the production costs involved in making a shoe are due to the costly raw material.


Our calf tanneries come from northwest Spain, Germany, and Italy. The types of leather below represent a full array of leather skins. They are all used in luxury shoe production, and they differ from the “look” and “texture” point of view.

CORDOVAN LEATHER

Cordovan leather is an equine leather made from the fibrous flat connective tissue (or shell) beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. The leather derives its name from the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was first produced by the Visigoths in the seventh century.

PAINTED CALF LEATHER

Crust calf leather (painted calf) enables artisans to hand paint the pieces with special creams and brushes to achieve an artisanal look. Outside of the “plain” painted calf leather, the material can also be engraved with different textures, like full grain or pebble grain.

BOX CALF LEATHER

The majority of quality shoes are made from the hides of calves. Box calf leather is primarily distinguished by its fineness, pliability, and grain. Box calf leathers are hand painted by our artisans.

SARTORIAL MATERIALS

We offer a full array of sartorial fabrics, flannels, and velvets. Sartorial patterns include tweed, plaid, tartan, herringbone, leopard, and more. The result of mixing these sartorial materials with classic hand painted leather in a shoe can be truly astonishing.

EXOTIC SKINS

We offer genuine exotic skins, including alligator, python, and ostrich skins, matching our painted calf base colors.

Alligator Genuine Skin

“Alligator Mississippiensis” skin renders an attractive and fashionable leather. Alligator leather is strong, supple, durable, and valuable. A bony layer within the skin adds a protective shield, while a dimple on each scale creates an exotic look. The softness of the American alligator’s skin makes it easier to work with than the skin of other reptiles.

Ostrich Genuine Skin

Ostrich leather is one of the finest and most durable leathers, known for its softness, flexibility, and durability. In spite of its softness, ostrich leather is unsurpassed for its tactile strength. It is, in fact, one of the strongest leathers available. The main distinguishing feature of ostrich leather is the quill or feather socket markings.

Python Genuine Skin

Snakeskins are desirable because of the unique grain, scales, and color patterns. Snakes are skinned in two ways: (1) cut down the belly scales, leaving the small scales in the center, called “belly” or “front” cut python, and (2) cut down the back, leaving the wide belly scale in the center, called “back” cut python. We use the “front” cut python.

Hand crafted

Masterfully crafted by the finest shoemakers in Europe

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