Agnelle Leathers
The Sensation of Natural Skin
Since its founding in 1937, Agnelle has put the art of glove-making to the service of the greatest French luxury brands, creating over these years its own sense of ‘luxury’ and ‘quality.’ Agnelle relies primarily on lamb skins derived from animals destined for consumption. In these cases, the skins are transformed from by-products to valued commodities themselves.
“Once it became clear that the origins of our material and the treatment of the animals was no longer trustworthy, we ended our reliance on sourced fur alone. We decided to use the skin of animals whose meat would also be made available for consumption. Today, all of manufactures of French leather, as well as their European counterparts, work to ensure that the cultivation, transport and slaughter of their animals is as humane as possible.”
Our lamb skins are treated in a tannerie near the Ateliers Agnelle in Saint Junien. All have received the “Living Heritage Enterprise” label, an honor designated by the French state in order to recognize French companies of an exceptional artisanal and industrial savoir-faire.
We regularly test our skins in independent laboratories operating under the REACH standard (the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals)
The origin of our skins is our first concern. Afterwards comes look and suppleness. A feel of cashmere, a smooth and taut texture, are the first requirements of any skin through which an artisan will show his skill.
“It is important that we widen our selections to include processed skins, otherwise they are not considered and wind up in the trash. Our cutters must take the time to analyze each skin because no two are alike and no two can be treated in the same way in order to make the best use of them. This is one of the principal reasons why our cutting methods have remained unchanged since the inception of Ganterie Agnelle.”
No robot or machine could ever match the hands of our expert cutters for assessing flaws or stretching and tightening our lambskins like theirs do.