Ostrich leather is the result of tanning skins taken from African ostriches farmed for their feathers, skin and meat. The leather is distinctive for its pattern of vacant quill follicles, forming bumps ranged across a smooth field in varying densities. It requires an intricate, specialised, and expensive production process making its aesthetic value costly. Although the first commercial farming began in South Africa in 1850, the industry collapsed after World War I and the drop in demand for the feathers for fashionable hats and military uniforms. Other products were marketed, with each success battered by world events and droughts until now, when ostrich skin is globally available and seen as a luxury item in high-end demand. Ostrich leather began to be produced after ostrich farming was well established but after a tannery was set up onsite, it went on to make an impact in European haute couture and in the US for cowboy boots becoming widespread during the 1970s. Demand peaked in the 1980s. Availability was artificially limited when ostrich leather was subject to a cartel monopoly through trade sanctions, and single export and distribution channels until the end of apartheid in 1993. After that and other factors, the South African government began to export stock allowing other countries to have their own ranches. Although wider production resulted in competition and lower prices, Klein Karoo Group remains the leading global producer. There were estimated to be just under 500,000 commercially bred ostriches in the world in 2003, with around 350,000 of these in South Africa. Ostrich leather is regarded as an exotic leather product alongside crocodile, snake, lizard, camel, emu among others. Ostrich skins are the largest in terms of volumes traded in the global exotic skins market. The premium strain of ostrich is the "African Black", which originated on the ranches of South Africa through various forms of selective breeding.
General description
Ostrich leather is distinct in its appearance and is characterized by raised points that are localized to the center of the hide. The portion with these bumps is called the "crown". It is actually the back of the ostrich where the animal's neck meets its body. The bumps are quill follicles where a feather grew. On the left and right side of the diamond shaped crown the skin is quite smooth. Only about a third of the whole skin has quill bumps. Since the crown is the most sought-after portion and since it constitutes such a small area of the skin, "full quill" ostrich products are considerably more expensive when compared to bovine leather. This, along with the fact that it is one of the strongest commercial leathers, leads ostrich leather to be seen as a luxury item.
History
Feathers The commercial farming of ostriches first began in the 1850s when pioneering farmers located in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, saw great economic potential in harvesting ostrich feathers. Horse-drawn carriages made large, dramatic hats fashionable. Ostrich feathers are some of the most intricate and grandiose in the world so it only made sense to use them in this new rage. During this period of the late 19th and early 20th century, South African ostrich farmers made a fortune. Henry Ford began to mass-produce the automobile which made large stylish hats for women virtually obsolete. The onset of World War I shut down the ostrich feather industry. The same barons who had been making a fortune soon found themselves on the verge of poverty.
Klein Karoo cooperative Over the next 50 years the entire industry bottomed out and maintained a minimal presence in the world. This status quo would not last, however. In 1945 the Klein Karoo region near Oudtshoorn set up a cooperative of farmers and speculators ("KKLK") who would work together to rebuild the ostrich industry. Eventually the demand for ostrich meat locally grew to a point where an abattoir was needed. In 1963/64 the world's first ostrich abattoir was erected in Klein Karoo by the KKLK to supply dried and fresh ostrich meat locally. The marketing of ostrich skin started in 1969/1970 when a leather tannery was built near the abattoir. Prior to this, there was very little known about the tanning process of ostrich skin. Most likely, ostrich skins were sent from the abattoir to tanneries in England and then sold to fashion houses. It appears that a group of South African entrepreneurs set out earlier in the 1960s in search of ways to tan ostrich skin. "I will give anything to see ostrich skins used", said Gerhard Olivier. With Hannes Louw, Jurgens Schoeman and the tanner Johan Wilken, he traveled abroad for the first time in search of people who could tan ostrich leather. Arnold and Dianne de Jager, founders of a tannery in London, offered to train a tanner for Klein Karoo, and in 1970, the first ostrich skin tannery opened there.
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