Upcycled full-grain leather is exactly what it sounds like: the best grade of leather there is, sourced from offcuts that would otherwise go to a landfill. It carries the same quality and character as leather cut from a fresh hide, with a lighter environmental footprint. If you've wondered what it is and how it differs from the "recycled" or "bonded" leather you see elsewhere, here's what you need to know.
What is upcycled full-grain leather?
Leather goods are cut from hides using patterns and templates, and even a well-run factory ends up with sizeable offcuts that don't fit the next job. Upcycling means putting those offcuts to use rather than discarding them. Because the material comes from hides that were already produced, no additional raw material is required.
The important word is full-grain. Full-grain is the top layer of the hide with the natural grain intact; it's the most durable grade and the only one that develops a rich patina with use. Upcycled full-grain offcuts retain everything the original hide had: the grain, the texture, the strength. The only difference is that the material was headed for the waste bin before someone put it to better use.
That is a different thing from bonded leather, which is made by shredding scraps and fusing them with adhesive. Bonded leather is a low-grade material that cracks and peels. If a product says "recycled leather" without saying "full-grain," it's worth asking which one you're getting.
Why it matters
Leather production generates a lot of waste. According to the World Wildlife Fund, up to 5.5 million hides went unused in the US in 2019 alone, roughly 17% of all hides produced that year. Most of that ends up burned or in landfills. Using offcuts addresses the waste side of that equation without asking you to accept a lesser material.
Vegetable-tanned vs. chrome-tanned
Tanning is the process that turns a raw hide into stable leather, and there are two main methods. Vegetable tanning uses natural tannins from bark and plant matter; it produces a firmer leather that ages beautifully and is easier to wet-form. Chrome tanning uses chromium salts; it's faster, produces a softer and more water-resistant leather, and holds color more evenly. Neither is "better" across the board. Northwind uses both, chosen per product: vegetable-tanned for pieces like our wine bottle coaster that are molded and meant to patina, chrome-tanned where softness, color range, or water resistance matter more.
How to identify quality upcycled leather
Look for the words full-grain, not just "recycled" or "eco." Look for a maker who can tell you where the leather comes from. And look for products that are stamped or stitched, not glued together, because that's the tell for whether the material is real hide or a composite.
How Northwind was born
In 2017, employees at a Minneapolis leather goods manufacturer noticed that a large amount of high-quality full-grain remnant leather was going straight to landfills. Rather than accept it, a women-led team began turning those offcuts into loop keychains, handcrafting each one and building a following of customers who liked both the product and the story. Northwind grew from there into coasters, wallets, dopp kits, journals, home goods and more.
Today about three-quarters of the full-grain leather we use is still sourced as offcuts from larger manufacturers, and the rest is bought as full hides when a product needs a size or color the offcut stream can't supply. Either way it's full-grain, it's cut and stamped in our Minneapolis studio, and it's made to order.
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