Until the COVERARY original leather is made

Delicate illustrations and graphics applied to smartphone cases. There were various challenges to reproduce their beauty along with the texture of genuine leather.

COVERARY original leather is a special leather created by repeatedly improving with tanners (leather manufacturers) to solve each of these issues and pursuing a base leather that best showcases the artist's design.

——What makes it special?

General leather is based on colors like natural (beige), brown, or black. When printed on, the ink may sink or mix with the original color, making it impossible to reproduce the design's original color tone.

Initially, we also tried printing on ready-made white leather, but the print on the edge of the case peeled off easily (left image), and the leather was too soft causing the print on the corners to crack (right image), so it did not reach the ideal finish. Therefore, COVERARY cleared these issues

• Print colors can be faithfully reproduced
• Fine lines and gradients can be expressed without bleeding
• Delicate expression possible through overlapping colors

An ideal dedicated printing

"Original leather like a white canvas"

We decided to develop it from scratch.

Generally, the leather-making process is well known as "tanning, drying, and dyeing," but in fact, there are 24 steps including "dehairing," which removes hair from the rawhide, "shaving," which adjusts the thickness of the leather, and "quality inspection," which checks the strength and softness of the leather.

The total time required to complete all processes is an astonishing one and a half to two months.

In today's world of advancing AI and automation, many processes in the COVERARY original leather manufacturing site still rely on the manual work of craftsmen.

I asked the craftsman the question, "Wouldn't machines be more efficient?"

"Of course, there are parts where machines that automatically measure are used. But leather is a 'living material.' Its condition is slightly different each time. To respond to that, the craftsman's eyes and experience are indispensable."

In the tanning process, the temperature and chemical composition are adjusted in 0.1 units, and the temperature inside the drum* that changes daily is also managed by the craftsman's hand.* Refers to the large barrel shown in the left image

In the drying process, the expression of the leather changes depending on the hanging time and stretching method, so visual inspection and fine pressure adjustment are indispensable.

Then painting and dyeing. Because the amount of paint absorbed by the skin changes with humidity and temperature, even with the same formula, the finished color varies, so it is always necessary to assess the condition of the day.

This work is particularly difficult, and even a veteran craftsman with 30 years of experience cannot afford to be careless.

Especially "white leather" easily shows uneven color and wrinkles, and since it cannot be disguised, the craftsman's skill greatly affects the finish.

After these processes, the material finally changes from "skin" to "leather."

To achieve original leather like a white canvas, a special process that takes more effort than usual is incorporated in the leather finishing. One of these special processes is "lacquer processing."

Lacquer processing refers to applying a mainly resin-based paint called lacquer to create a transparent or semi-transparent protective film on the leather surface.

This process is applied more times than usual on COVERARY's original leather. This increases durability and results in a matte texture.

This matte surface is ideal for preventing print color fading and keeping the design details sharp. Also, layering lacquer has the effect of making scratches less noticeable.

COVERARY's desire for customers to "cherish something that is truly their own for a long time" is also embedded in this manufacturing method.

Because this high-quality leather, carefully finished by craftsmen's hands, serves as the canvas, COVERARY's printed cases achieve both "artistic reproducibility" and "the premium quality of genuine leather."

• Delicate touch of line art
• Vividly colored illustration
• Gradient nuances

Faithfully reproducing these and maintaining long-lasting color is truly thanks to the quality of the base leather.

The one shown on the left side of the image is a collaboration smartphone case with German artist Sabine, which COVERARY staff have actually used and loved for over half a year.

Although slight darkening is seen with use, the color of the printed part remains almost unchanged compared to the newly printed leather on the right side of the image, maintaining its beauty firmly.

In leather making that pursues "quality" rather than efficiency, human hands and wisdom are indispensable.

You can see actual samples of these carefully crafted COVERARY original leather smartphone cases at the following stores.

At the store, past collaboration cases and customization examples are also on display. Please touch and see for yourself how the print looks on leather.