We can proudly declare that this represents Shebag’s top-tier quality: the best leather and the best artisans. This Birkin 25 is primarily crafted from Togo leather, with accents of Crocodile leather; even the padlock is covered in crocodile skin. This is 100% authentic craftsmanship—a true, perfect 1:1 replica.

Of course, the truly difficult part lies in the leather supply chain and the experienced bag-making workforce. Specifically, we rely on a young yet highly experienced demographic: female artisans under the age of 40 with over 10 years of experience in handmade bags. They are incredibly stable and form the core strength of Shebag.

Today, let’s discuss Hermès’ Togo leather—how Shebag acquires it, and how we ensure its quality.

In reality, to effectively control the leather supply chain, one must be knowledgeable enough to transform oneself into a leather merchant. One must be intimately familiar with every batch of goods and every factory in France, and even possess research knowledge regarding cattle and sheep breeds, their growth environments, and average ambient temperatures.

Hermès’ Togo leather relies on a supply chain system built around the core goals of long-term stability and controllable quality. Essentially, it is a highly closed, long-term cooperative network centered in France, revolving around natural full-grain bull hides. It is precisely because Shebag has a deep history of procurement and accumulated experience in France and Italy that we are able to secure top-tier Togo leather.

Regarding Raw Materials: Togo uses adult bull hide (Veau Taurillon), not calfskin. The raw hides primarily come from fixed ranch systems in France, Germany, and parts of Northern Europe. Hermès has extremely rigorous screening standards for raw hides, with a very low tolerance for natural defects like insect bites, scars, growth veins, or uneven thickness. Because bull hide has naturally thicker fibers and stronger surface tension, Togo can form a natural, three-dimensional, and irregular grain structure without relying on mechanical embossing. The core feature of this stage is not to expand supply, but to compress availability through repeated screening to guarantee consistent physical performance over the long term.

Regarding Tanning: Togo leather does not come from the open market; it is finished by top-tier local French tanneries that have been deeply bound to Hermès for the long term. These tanneries are generally small in scale with controlled capacity, often maintaining relationships with Hermès for decades. Hermès holds deep participation rights in the tanning process, including critical parameters like tanning formulas, cycles, drying rhythms, and control over stretching and moisture regain. The goal at this stage is not to pursue extreme softness or extreme stiffness, but to achieve a balance between durability, elasticity, and resistance to collapsing under long-term use.

Regarding Surface Treatment: The core characteristic of Togo is “lightly corrected, no embossing.” The leather surface undergoes very limited trimming. It does not use mechanical embossing to unify granule size; instead, it retains the variance of the natural grain. Therefore, even within Togo, different hides will show subtle differences in granule size, density, and three-dimensionality. This incomplete consistency is not viewed as a defect but is regarded by Hermès as part of the authenticity of natural leather, which is the key distinction between Togo and embossed leathers like Epsom.

Regarding Dyeing: Togo primarily undergoes immersion dyeing, where the dye penetrates deep into the leather fibers rather than forming a heavy surface coating. This allows for deeper color stratification while maintaining the leather’s breathability and its texture evolution over time. While slight differences in warmth or depth may exist between different years or batches of the same color, the overall color system remains highly stable. This reflects a tolerance for the nuances of natural materials, rather than industrial-grade absolute consistency.

Internal Use and Allocation: Togo is one of the most core and stable structural leathers in the Hermès system, prioritized for bags like the Birkin and Kelly that require a balance of structural support and long-term durability. Its initial touch is somewhat stiff, but it softens gradually with use while maintaining good shape retention. This performance characteristic makes Togo the “safe default option” for high-frequency core styles, rather than an experimental leather pursuing extreme visual or tactile effects.

The Crocodile Leather Supply Chain: Hermès’ crocodile leather supply chain is a highly vertically integrated, strictly regulated, and ethically constrained system for top-tier luxury raw materials. Its core goal is not mass supply, but securing the most premium and controllable crocodile skin resources globally under the premises of legality, traceability, and long-term stability. The complexity, threshold, and cost of this supply chain are significantly higher than any other leather system at Hermès.

Raw Materials: Hermès primarily uses three types of crocodile skin: Porosus (Saltwater Crocodile), Niloticus (Nile Crocodile), and Alligator Mississippiensis (American Alligator). Porosus is considered the highest grade, sourced mainly from northern Australia and Southeast Asia; Niloticus comes primarily from parts of Africa; and the American Alligator comes mainly from Louisiana and Florida in the USA. Hermès strictly follows the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) framework. All raw skins must come from legal farms, not wild capture, and must possess complete documentation regarding origin, breeding, slaughter, and export.

Farming: Hermès does not simply rely on third-party market procurement. Instead, through long-term contracts, technical support, and even direct participation, it establishes deep binding relationships with a few high-standard farms. Farming standards are incredibly strict, covering growth cycle control, crocodile density management, dietary ratios, water quality, environmental stability, and minimizing fighting to prevent skin damage. Since crocodile skin is hypersensitive to scratches, scars, and stress reactions, the proportion of skins usable for luxury goods is inherently low, determining the natural scarcity of crocodile leather from the source.

Tanning: Hermès does not outsource crocodile tanning to ordinary high-end tanneries. It is handled by a specialized French tanning system that is either long-term controlled or highly bound to the brand. Tanning crocodile skin is far more difficult than cowhide or calfskin, requiring precise control over scale hardness, subcutaneous fiber tension, and thickness uniformity. Hermès holds high authority over process parameters at this stage, including tanning formulas, degreasing processes, drying rhythms, and special treatments for scale edges and the abdominal area. The goal is not maximum softness, but ensuring stability and durability during long-term use while maintaining the three-dimensional quality of the scales.

Grading and Finishing: Hermès implements an extremely strict grading system for crocodile skins. Factors such as the symmetry of scale arrangement, uniformity of scale size, straightness of the belly’s central axis, and the presence of any visible or potential structural defects directly affect the skin’s grade. A vast amount of crocodile skin is downgraded or eliminated at this stage, with only a tiny fraction entering the pool for top-tier bags like the Birkin or Kelly. Hermès accepts slight individual differences in natural crocodile skin but absolutely rejects defects that compromise structural and visual integrity.

Dyeing and Post-Processing: Crocodile skin processing combines immersion dyeing with fine polishing, emphasizing color translucency and scale three-dimensionality rather than heavy coverage. Matte crocodile skin emphasizes natural texture and the soft transition of scale edges, while shiny (Lisse) crocodile skin achieves a mirror effect through complex polishing processes (using an agate stone), though this demands extremely high stability in craftsmanship and subsequent maintenance. The difficulty and yield rates vary significantly across different colors and surface effects.

Allocation: Crocodile leather is a strategic, scarce resource of the highest order within the Hermès system. Allocation is highly concentrated, almost exclusively used for Birkin, Kelly, and a very small number of high-end small leather goods. Production quantities are not driven by market demand but are strictly limited by compliance supply capabilities, usable skin ratios, and workshop rhythm. This is why crocodile leather products remain in a state of extremely low production, strict rationing, and high symbolism.

Shebag’s procurement volume for crocodile leather is also very small, which is why our prices are high. This premium pricing strategy allows us to prioritize selection directly from leather suppliers, which is our primary means of controlling the quality of our crocodile leather.