He rips up luxury leather goods like Chanel wallets and Prada bags to answer this important question: Are they worth the cost?
Meet Tanner Leatherstein.
Meet Tanner Leatherstein.
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00:00And our wallet. Is it worth it?
00:13I believe I'm in this world to help people understand leather and experience it better.
00:22For the labor craftsmanship, I give them a generous estimate of 50 dollars.
00:27For other accessories, probably another 10 dollars.
00:30But here is where I have a problem with the leather.
00:32They lost me here with the very heavy finish on the leather.
00:36They say calfskin.
00:37And it's 1200 dollar price tag.
00:39You're paying a lot for the status comes with the logo.
00:42I don't care about status.
00:43I will not buy status.
00:45I'm a utilitarian person.
00:46I shop at Costco.
00:47But I totally understand for people who wants the status and who requires it in their lifestyles.
00:54Good leather is not cheap, but it's not astronomically expensive.
00:58But there are so many people who still think,
01:01oh, it's great leather because it's so expensive.
01:04It's never the case.
01:13I was born into a family-owned leather tannery business.
01:18I did my first batch of five sheepskins when I was 11 years old
01:22to make my very first leather jacket.
01:25What started as a game, then it become a lifetime passion.
01:41I wanted that authentic, natural looking leather.
01:44But no matter what brand I went to, they just didn't have it.
01:48But that's when I noticed like, hold on, there's something wrong here.
01:52This is not so great of a product, but it's so expensive.
01:55Can you believe I paid $2,200 for this bag?
01:58It's from Prada.
01:59Made out of their Salfiano leather.
02:02Feels so much like plastic to me.
02:04$50 should be enough to cover the leather.
02:07And bag is not very complex.
02:08$70 for labor should be enough as well.
02:11Given my estimate of $120, there's a lot of premium packed in that price.
02:16But of course, it's Prada.
02:17If you're not in the status game, and if you're trying to find a leather
02:20that you will enjoy with your senses, this may not be for you.
02:24I started to make some videos last year to tell that portion of the leather industry
02:29to people, to give them one more data point when they're making a leather purchase.
02:33And about three months ago, one of those videos went viral on TikTok.
02:37People start asking, oh, can you do that brand?
02:39Can you do this brand?
02:40It was just, okay, we're going to do that brand.
02:42And we kept getting good response.
02:44And I'm really happy that it shows like somebody's benefiting from these
02:49inspections and knowledge transfer.
03:00Leather has been a luxury associated item throughout the history.
03:04Back in the day, it was something valuable.
03:06It was hard to make.
03:08It was not available.
03:09But today, it's not the case.
03:11We have the tanneries.
03:12We can virtually make millions of square foot of leather without any problem.
03:18But that luxury association is still being used by these luxury brands
03:25to tap into that historical knowledge and people, and also lack of knowledge,
03:30what leather could be, how much it should be, and put really high numbers on it to
03:37create an illusory luxury around it to sell people's status.
03:40I understand status is a need as well in this market, in the world.
03:45It appeals to some people.
03:47It doesn't appeal to others.
03:48I totally respect that.
03:50To you, it might be worth it as long as you understand it's not about the leather.