About an hour’s drive from the heart of Florence lies Santa Croce sull’Arno, home to one of Italy’s largest leather industry districts. Here, many of the country’s leading tanneries are clustered together.
We first encountered Maryam Tannery in 2017 at the Lineapelle leather fair. Although gradus(grds) had already been working with Italian tanneries, it was through boots 02 leather that our relationship with Maryam Tannery began. Maryam specializes in challenging hides such as horse, kangaroo, and deer. Our product team felt that their working methods, the authenticity of their craft, and the impression left by their founder carried something special. When the opportunity came to visit Maryam during a business trip, we decided to take a closer look.
Before traveling, we met Maryam’s founder and legal representative Andrea and office employee Aurora through an online meeting. Most of the conversation was with Aurora, who speaks English, but as she had worked at Maryam for many years, she helped us gain a deeper understanding of Andrea and the tannery itself.
On the second day of our trip, we visited Maryam Tannery. It was more modest than we had imagined, filled with warmth and humanity. The people laughed and joked as they worked, yet they showed unwavering focus when handling the leather. In the middle of business discussions about hides, grds’s director, Andrea, and Aurora decided to step out for lunch together. Driving out of the tannery district in Andrea’s car, there came wide fields and tall trees lined against the horizon. It was a beautiful sight.
On the way, Andrea stopped at his private stable. Three horses roamed peacefully: Gaia, a 19-year-old mare, her 12-year-old daughter Carolina, and her 2-year-old son Pipetto. Andrea fed them and stroked them gently with affection. He said he sometimes rides them on his days off.
It felt ironic, even curious, that a man who works with horsehide also raises horses. When asked what they mean to him, Andrea explained that loving horses does not contradict his craft. The hides he works with are not the result of animals being killed for leather, but rather byproducts of the food industry. New life is given to these hides through craftsmanship, such as transforming them into shoes and other products whose value grows when people wear and use them. Having spent over 40 years in the leather industry, Andrea sees his work as one way of expressing love for animals.
Every tannery defines “good leather” differently, and every brand seeks its own texture and feel. While luxury brands may insist on flawless, uniform hides, grds has always chosen leather that reveals its natural character. In this respect, we felt strongly aligned with Maryam’s philosophy.
Andrea believes the best leathers carry an imperfect beauty. Horsehide that Maryam mainly works with reveals this essence especially well. It is uneven, yet full of vitality. Maryam has also been dedicated to vegetable tanning, a sustainable method that uses tannins extracted from trees. Vegetable-tanned leather matures as it is worn, touched by sunlight and time. This is why grds chooses vegetable-tanned leather for most of its shoes. We want to create footwear that becomes more valuable as the years go by.
The more imperfect and natural, the more beautiful it becomes.
