Shell cordovan is horse, and each hide gives only two
Shell cordovan is the one shoe leather that isn't leather in the usual sense: a poreless membrane from under a horse's hindquarter, which Horween in Chicago has tanned the same slow vegetable way for a century. Two shells per animal, six months in the vats, and a surface that ripples rather than splits. Prized, and priced to match.
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01SHELL CORDOVAN, THE SHOE LEATHER COLLECTORS OBSESS OVER,
ISN'T COWHIDE AT ALL. IT'S HORSE, CUT FROM A SMALL OVAL
MEMBRANE UNDER THE HIDE ON THE ANIMAL'S HINDQUARTER.
02EACH HORSE YIELDS JUST TWO SHELLS, ENOUGH FOR ROUGHLY
TWO PAIRS OF SHOES AND THEN NOTHING MORE.
03HORWEEN IN CHICAGO STILL VEGETABLE-TANS EACH ONE OVER
ABOUT SIX MONTHS, A PROCESS BARELY CHANGED IN A CENTURY.
04THAT DENSE, PORELESS MEMBRANE IS WHY CORDOVAN CREASES
IN SOFT ROLLING WAVES INSTEAD OF SHARP CRACKS. NOW YOU
KNOW WHY THE SHOES COST WHAT THEY COST.