Styles changes, and so does the fabrics that are used for apparels, but no other fabric has kept its popularity as persistent throughout the years as leather. Growing up in the fashion business for most of my life, I observed that many consumers are attracted towards organic fabrics, like leathers, cashmere and shearling. For some bizarre reason that I still do not comprehend, people are attracted to products that are real as compared to man-made textiles such as polyester or PU (polyurethane, also known as "pleather"). Some shoppers express to me that they rather have on their back a natural and biodegradable garment like leather because they feel more comfortable in it and their body breaths better. "It feels more natural", one client told me. I had another client tell me that putting on a "pleather" coat is similar to wearing a garbage bag. Petroleum by-products such as PU(pleather) seem to turn many people off? There are individuals that will argue that leather is no longer organic once it has gone through the tanning phase. The argument is that there are so many synthetic compounds injected in the tanning process that leather no longer is biodegradable. And maybe there is some truth...but only a marginal number leather fashions actually use this type of treatment. I am a 3rd generation coat maker and I witness many leather coats and leather jackets that are so aged that they are starting to decompose. Leather jackets are still biodegradable using today's tanning manners, but they need to come from tanneries that are using certain vegetable oils (which is majority of the tanneries in North America). An additional reason why I view leather jackets are fashionable is because they can not be completely replicated. Every leather pelt is unique; consequently every leather apparel will have certain singularity. The blemishes or birthmarks that is on the leather is what makes the jacket stand out. And maybe that is the true reason why we like leathers so much, we all want something that is unique to us, so we can be different. As long as that mindset will keep, I think it is safe to state that leather will be just as fashionable in10 years from now as it is today. This article was written by Dino Karatzios who is a third generation furrier. He learned the tradefrom his Father (Dimitrios who is the actual master furrier) and has been working in the fur trade from a very young age. You can say that furs and fashion outerwear is practically in his genes. For more information regarding furs, leathers or specialty wools, please feel free to contact Dino at Frank's Furs and Fashions (http://www.franksfurs.com)