Fashion glossary

Chanel's crinkled, distressed calf, often on the 2.55 Reissue.

A discontinued Hermès leather, replaced by Vache Liegee.

Hermès's saddle leather, oiled for weeks, that darkens with use.

A 2016 reinterpretation of Barenia with a small printed grain.

Leather fibres and offcuts bonded with a binder.

The oldest Hermès leather: smooth, glossy and quick to show scratches.

A smooth, mottled Heritage leather first made in 2012.

Chanel's pebbled, embossed calfskin: stiff and hard-wearing.

Matte, smooth calfskin often called a matte Box.

Hermès goatskins, light and scratch resistant, with a visible spine.

High-shine goatskin introduced in 2018.

A sheened goatskin for small bags and SLGs.

An earlier Hermès goatskin with an iridescent grain.

Hermès's most commonly used goatskin, also used for linings.

Hermès's large-grained bull-calf leather, softer and heavier than Togo.

The embossed leather Epsom replaced in 2004.

Hermès's suede.

Louis Vuitton's drum-dyed calf embossed with a wave pattern (1985).

Hermès's heat-embossed calfskin: light, rigid and easy to wipe clean.

A smooth, rigid Hermès calf similar to Box but more matte.

A soft Hermès calfskin with a tiny printed grain and a satin finish.

Evercalf with a tiny printed grain.

Leather with its original grain surface intact.

Light, matte, rigid leather in a few neutral colours.

Stingray leather, named after Jean-Claude Galuchat.

Tough, soft-textured leather; Chanel uses it on the 19 bag.

Saint Laurent's peppercorn-grain embossed leather.

A thicker-napped Hermès calf suede from 2010.

The discontinued leather that Swift replaced.

Like Swift, but stiffer.

Soft, buttery leather, more easily scratched than caviar.

A light, finely stamped Hermès calf introduced in 2019.

A bull-calf leather with a small even grain, introduced in 2017.

Hermès's soft lambskin for charms and SLGs, not bags.

Soft calf embossed with the Monogram, introduced in 2010.

Louis Vuitton's patent calf embossed with the Monogram.

A smooth Hermès calf inspired by Box, first made in 2018.

Soft, through-dyed, lightly finished full-grain leather.

Untreated leather that patinates and water-marks.

A large-grained, water-resistant calf used mainly on the Garden Party.

Top-grain leather brushed to a soft nap; tougher than suede.

Leather with a high-gloss coating; scratches are hard to remove.

Prada's crosshatched calfskin, patented by Mario Prada.

A smooth, matte Hermès calf added in 2011.

The lower layer left when a hide is split.

Buffed leather from the underside of the hide.

Hermès's soft, nearly smooth calfskin that takes colour well.

A smooth, structured Hermès calf with an opalescent sheen.

Fine-grained bull hide introduced in 2015.

Hermès's grained calfskin, the female counterpart of Clemence.

A US term the Leather Research Laboratory equates with full grain.

A large-grained Garden Party leather, firmer than Negonda.

Hermès's thickest, most rigid leather.

Untreated smooth Hermès leather that spots with water and patinates.

Untreated cowhide trim that ages to honey on Louis Vuitton canvas bags.

Hermès's cross-hatched "Russian leather".

The American alligator skin Hermès uses, mostly on smaller bags.

A rare, silky alligator finish.

Nile crocodile, the skin behind the Himalaya Birkin and Kelly.

Saltwater crocodile: Hermès's most expensive exotic skin.

Exotic skin buffed with a stone to a high shine.

The more common of Hermès's two lizard skins.

The rarer Hermès lizard, used for Ombré bags.

Exotic skin rubbed with felt for a flat surface.

Quill-dotted skin, durable and the only Hermès exotic without a stamp mark.

Hermès's toughest canvas, coated and glossy.

Two-colour checkerboard Hermès canvas.

Blue-and-cream Damier inspired by the Riviera.

Louis Vuitton's checkerboard canvas, first introduced in 1888.

Brown Damier canvas, usually without vachetta.

Marc Bohan's diagonal Dior motif, from 1967.

Goyard's dotted chevron canvas, created in 1892.

Louis Vuitton's LV-and-flowers coated canvas, created in 1896.

Monogram with the canvas carried onto handles and straps.

Hermès's woven two-colour H canvas.

Light, durable cotton canvas used on the Herbag.

Smooth single-colour cotton canvas for the Herbag and Garden Party.

The oil-painted canvas on Louis Vuitton's first flat trunks.

Louis Vuitton's early 1900s coated canvas for car luggage.

Felted wool trimmed with leather.

Hermès's name for its denim.

Patterned wool fabric central to Chanel's bags and clothing.

Dior's quilting pattern, used on the Lady Dior.

Bottega Veneta's hand-woven leather strips.

Two layers stitched with padding between.

Leather with minimal finish and its natural grain visible.

Rolling leather against itself to raise a grain.

Leather sanded on top for a velvety touch.

Faster tanning with chemical salts for a smooth, even finish.

Leather whose grain has been buffed and refinished.

Tanned and dried leather before finishing.

Tumbling hides to raise and soften the grain.

Leather stamped with a pattern for texture.

The darkening and sheen leather develops with age and handling.

Leather with a protective coating that hides the grain.

Oiled or waxed leather that lightens where it flexes.

Aniline-type leather with a light pigmented finish.

Leather tanned to shrink the grain into folds.

Tanning with natural tannins from bark and leaves.

Chrome-tanned hide before dyeing, blue when wet.

Construction sewn inside out and turned, for a softer shape.

Hand stitching with two needles and one thread.

Construction with the stitched edges facing out, for a crisp shape.

Hermès's year letter, pressed without foil.

Louis Vuitton's factory and date stamp, used from the 1980s to 2021.

The small marks beside the Hermès stamp that name the skin.

The Hermès mark for a special-order bag.

Chanel's numbered sticker and matching card, used until 2021.

Marks a piece made for a Hermès craftsperson's own use.

Matte-brushed gold or palladium Hermès hardware.

The Hermès padlock.

The bell-shaped leather key holder.

Hermès brass hardware plated with fine gold.

Silver-toned Hermès hardware: brass plated with palladium.

Hermès's technique for finishing hardware nails.

A thin gold plating that lets the brass colour show.

Copper-bearing karat gold plating on Hermès hardware.

The leather straps that close a Kelly or Birkin.

The Kelly's turn-lock, over which the straps close.

How to tell Hermès alligator from crocodile.

Chanel's two main Classic Flap leathers compared.

Hermès goatskin against embossed calfskin.

Louis Vuitton's two classic canvases and how they wear.

Two printed-grain Hermès calfskins with different hands.

The same thing, by the industry definition.

Hermès's two crocodiles, told apart by scale shape and stamp mark.

Same brass base, different plating.

A thinner gold plating that shows the brass.

Two embossed calfskins: Prada's crosshatch and Hermès's fine grain.

Hermès's two constructions: stitched outward, or turned and hidden.

Underside buffed versus grain side buffed.

Soft, almost-smooth Swift against rigid, embossed Epsom.

Two drummed Hermès calfskins from the same animal, female and male.

Hermès's three most common calfskins, side by side.