The Highest Quality You Can Find

Lupo and Monti backpacks are made exclusively with vegetable tanned leather, the most premium leather available. 

Tanning leather is required to stabilize the proteins in the raw hide so that the leather is suitable for use in a variety of products--including backpacks! 

Vegetable tanning is the most sustainable method for the environment and the oldest known leather tanning process. It was the primary means of tanning leather up until the mid-19th century, when newer processes such as chrome tanning were invented.

While vegetable tanning relies on natural tanning extracts derived from renewable resources, chrome tanning and similar methods make use of heavy-metal minerals and other potentially toxic byproducts. These byproducts can be quite damaging to the environment when released.

In addition to actual leather products, many products are made with faux leather, sometimes referred to as "vegan" leather. Faux leather is less eco-friendly than vegetable tanned leather because most faux leather is made from petroleum-based plastics. The most common plastics used to make faux leather are polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride.

Lupo and Monti is committed to building environmentally sustainable practices in the fashion industry. As part of our commitment, Lupo and Monti works exclusively with tanneries in Tuscany that commit to the following practices:

• Promote the Circular Economy: This means that no animal is killed for its skin. All rawhides are byproducts of food production and would otherwise be disposed.
• Exclusive use of Tuscan leather, which does not contain toxic substances (including azo-dyes, nickel, or chrome VI).
• Commitment to recycling and reusing unused substances that remain after the tanning process.  

If you have any other questions about vegetable tanning or the steps we are taking to build a sustainable future for men's fashion, please send us a note on the Contact Us page. We'll get back to you ASAP!