Vegetable tanning uses tannins from tree bark, usually chestnut, oak or mimosa, and it takes weeks rather than a day. The result is a firm hide with no heavy surface coating, which is why it darkens so dramatically and why it smells the way people expect leather to smell.

What it does in sunlight

Veg tan tans, in the same sense that skin does. Leave a new natural veg tan bag on a windowsill for a week with a key lying on it and you will lift the key to find a pale silhouette. Most owners use this deliberately: a bag carried outdoors for a summer arrives at a deep honey colour that no dye reproduces, and the parts your hands touch go further still.

The trade offs, stated plainly

It marks easily, especially when new and pale. Water leaves a ring that usually evens out as it dries but occasionally does not. It is heavier and firmer than chrome tanned leather of the same thickness, so a veg tan bag feels substantial and is slower to soften. And no two bags will be the same colour after six months, because the colour depends on how you used it.

Breaking one in

For the first month, use it and do nothing else. Resist conditioning it early, because oils applied before the leather has darkened naturally will blotch. After six to eight weeks of regular use, apply a thin coat of neutral conditioner and work it in evenly, edges and base included. After that, two or three times a year is plenty.

What it suits

Structured shapes. A satchel, a briefcase, a firm tote. It is the wrong choice for a hobo or anything meant to drape, which wants a softer chrome tanned or combination tanned hide instead.