When your Floto bag is brand new, it often carries a distinctive scent that combines a sharp, chemical-like note reminiscent of a Sharpie marker with a sweet, earthy undertone. This initial aroma is a natural characteristic of the tanning process and is not indicative of low quality. The sharpness can be attributed to the presence of tannins—natural compounds derived from plant sources such as oak, chestnut, and quebracho. These tannins are integral to the vegetable tanning process and contribute to the leather's durability and unique scent profile.  The sweetness emerges as the leather begins to oxidize and cure, a process...

When you’re shopping for a leather bag or accessory, you’ll see all kinds of terms — full-grain, top-grain, split, genuine. They sound similar, but the differences are huge. Knowing what each means helps you understand quality — and why some leather goods last a lifetime while others don’t. At Floto, we craft our bags from Italian full-grain vegetable-tanned leather — in my opnion the highest quality available. Here’s a clear breakdown of the main types of leather and why full-grain stands apart. 1. Full-Grain Leather: The Highest Quality Full-grain leather comes from the top layer of the hide, where the...

Recently, a customer left a negative review on a Floto bag, claiming it was made from “vegan leather” and therefore not genuine. I was surprised when I read this — could she have confused vegetable-tanned leather with vegan leather? Or was it something more deliberate, like a misleading review from a competitor? Either way, it made me curious. I started digging in and quickly realized that there’s a lot of confusion online about the terms vegetable-tanned leather and vegan leather. At first glance, they sound alike — both include the word “veg.” But in reality, they refer to completely different...

A few years ago, we began receiving some questions about products labeled “Genuine Leather.” Customers wanted to know: Is it real? Is it high quality? One even left a harsh review after discovering his wallet was stamped with those words. I was puzzled. Why was this suddenly an issue? Just weeks earlier, I had visited the Gucci boutique in Rome and noticed that their $5,000 handbags were also marked “Genuine Leather.” Clearly, the term couldn’t mean “fake” or “cheap.” After digging into the issue, I discovered where the confusion comes from: many articles and brands online claim that “genuine leather”...