About Nappa Leather Gloves


Many customers ask what Nappa Leather is so it’s time to strip away the myths about Nappa leathers. 

Nappa leather is full-grain leather, typically dyed, and made from unsplit kidskin, lambskin or sheep skin. It is tanned with salts of chromium or aluminum sulfate, and noted for its softness, stretchiness, flexibility, and durability. It is often used in high-quality leather products such as high-end furniture, wallets, handbags, and most often high quality dress and fashion gloves. 
Nappa leather should not be confused with cowhide which is thicker, less flexible, and used in heavy-duty work gloves. 
Even though Italian leather craftsmen have mastered making and working with Nappa leather, the tanning process which produces Napa leather was invented in 1875 at the Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa, California. 
Examples of popular Men’s and Women’s Nappa leather gloves can be found at the following links:

Gloves-Online announces new “Hot Glove” pre-order program for the new ICON Fashion Gloves

The new ICON Designer Art Leather Gloves arriving in October are now available for pre-order since we purchased all that the factory can produce this year. Quantities will be limited due to their popularity, limited production, and the fact that these glove models have become collector’s items. The design patterns change annually so we suggest you reserve your own personal pair today. 
The ideal Christmas gift this year. 
This pre-order program has been popular since 2007 for our Chinchilla Lined Gloves. Order today and we will guarantee immediate delivery once they arrive. 

The Mystery of Naked Metisse Leather Solved!

When the new line of luxurious leather gloves by Grandoe arrived a few days ago (tagged: Made from Naked Metisse Leather), I struggled to recount my 2 decades of glove experience to interpret the meaning. I even beckoned our warehouse manager, Alaqui, a Moroccan who speaks fluent French, thinking it was one of those fancy words inspired by the French romantics. No luck there either. Google and my Webster’s failed me, too.

I then resorted to humble myself and go back to the source. First, I sent an e-mail to my new glove friend, Mike D’Arcy, one of the Czars at Grandoe, and asked for the meaning. His reply was simple as if I (The Glove Guru) should have known, “Metisse is the finest leather available.” Hmmmm, Thanks a bunch, Mike, I said to myself.

Thinking there was no way we could convince any of our customers from CPW (that’s Central Park West in case you’re not into NYC acronyms) that Naked Metisse leathers were the finest for gloves, I had to call Mike.

Mystery Solved: When I asked Mike on the phone, he simply chuckled. Instantly, I felt foolish but I still had to know. The nerve of him, I thought. After a short pause, he said laughing; it’s a word we made up! “OK, fine, but what is it, Italian Nappa? European lambskin?”, I asked.

Incredibly, I soon learned that these fifth generation glove makers from Grandoe were onto something new to me; old to them. The leathers they use (for more than a century) are made from Ethiopian Highland Sheepskins, which are the finest leathers available and have an international reputation for use in gloves. Sheep raised there near the Equator provide a softer and finer grain ideal for luxurious fine fashion leather gloves.

Now that I solved the mystery of Naked Metisse Leathers, I wonder who is going to make it to Wikipedia first, Mike or me. I know I’ll beat him to Google due to this post. He still gets kudos for the word and the gloves.