Among the many leathers that have passed through our workshop, none carry as much history as Mouton Fauve. It was one of the first hides Mr Ramaswamy worked with when he founded Chester’s — a warm, fawn-toned nubuck from a small tannery in France. He was drawn to it for its honesty. It showed every crease, every shade of use, and he believed that was what made it beautiful.

That philosophy has quietly shaped everything we’ve done since. Over time, those early experiments with Mouton Fauve evolved into what we now call Shadow Leather — a finish developed in-house that builds depth and variation rather than flattening it. Each hide is hand-rubbed with layered stains to create a subtle, uneven tone that moves between light and dark. No two surfaces are ever the same.

As the leather ages, it takes on a patina that deepens its individuality — the surface softens, the colour mellows, and the sheen grows in places where it’s touched most often. We’ve always seen this as the truest expression of craft: material that records time instead of resisting it.

Shadow Leather, in that sense, is both an evolution and a return. It carries forward my father’s instinct for tactility and imperfection — a reminder that the most lasting pieces are those that change, quietly, with us.