Materials for Surface Design and Finishing for Contemporary Footwear – Part 2

Abstract

Leather has a natural beauty that, unlike many materials, improves with age, and has long been a component of luxury goods such as footwear, leather goods and clothing. It is a natural and durable material, unmatched by any synthetic product, in terms of hygienic and protective properties. Thanks to the skills of leather producers, who take the same basic raw material, natural leathers are processed through different technological processes and transformed into finished leathers for various clothing items with high-performance properties. Finishing is achieved through a series of technologies, using materials that provide the finished leather with the desired aesthetic characteristics related to fashion, colors and special effects (pearl, two-tone, antique, printed, glossy, matte, waxed, etc.). Hand-painted natural leather shoes are also in fashion, to give a personal touch to a luxury item. The work presents surface finishing technologies of ecological natural leathers (tanned without metals), using pigment pastes with a metallic effect, in combination with acrylic and polyurethane polymers, with resistance to light and aging. White and pastel finished leathers with silver and gold effect can be used in creative industries for artistic and luxury footwear (especially for women).