Tanner leatherstein?

[A bottle of Red]

Has anyone seen the short clips from this guy called tanner leatherstein where he cuts up bags , wallets and leather goods to dissect their quality? He also mentions what he thinks the prices should be.
I thought he was informative but I do cringe seeing leather goods cut and torn up like that. Of course I also don't know his credentials and how accurate his statements are .

 

[papertiger]

It's an interesting phenomena. I don't know him exactly. I saw someone else do this with men's shoes that did a side by side direction of a Gucci with premium high-street under the pretext of finding out are the Gucci's worth their price point. I wasn't sure I believed he was taking apart of a pair of Guccis.

It's a thing, lots of tough guys are giving their opinions of things by taking them apart. Some of the things my shoe guy said made me think his only concern is hardcore durability, whereas I know my designer shoes are more comfortable, better materials, good to look at, beautiful 'hand' etc. Maybe TL is more conscious of luxury goods all-round properties.

IMO, it depends on people's criteria for what makes a good bag and their own order of priorities regards value.

We all know an Hermes Clemence Evelyne is not made the same way as a Box Kelly, nor will it be durable in the same way although there will be examples of bags going back decades of both models. Just seems to me these people like taking stuff apart that someone took days to make.

 

[A bottle of Red]

It's an interesting phenomena. I don't know him exactly. I saw someone else do this with men's shoes that did a side by side direction of a Gucci with premium high-street under the pretext of finding out are the Gucci's worth their price point. I wasn't sure I believed he was taking apart of a pair of Guccis.

It's a thing, lots of tough guys are giving their opinions of things by taking them apart. Some of the things my shoe guy said made me think his only concern is hardcore durability, whereas I know my designer shoes are more comfortable, better materials, good to look at, beautiful 'hand' etc. Maybe TL is more conscious of luxury goods all-round properties.

IMO, it depends on people's criteria for what makes a good bag and their own order of priorities regards value.

We all know an Hermes Clemence Evelyne is not made the same way as a Box Kelly, nor will it be durable in the same way although there will be examples of bags going back decades of both models. Just seems to me these people like taking stuff apart that someone took days to make.

Yes I was skeptical when he took apart a botega bag and gave a very small amount of what he thinks should be paid for labor .
If those bags are hand woven it's going to cost a lot more.

 

[calendula3]

His low estimates for labor always irk me. People should be paid fairly for labour and I doubt he would be happy with these rates himself.

 

[jellyv]

He's interesting, but I have no ability to judge how deep his expertise is. He does promote thinking about the degree of naturalness and finishing in the leather, which probably isn't intuitive for many bag shoppers. I myself notice a lot of highly processed leather being used in both luxe and wanna-be-luxe brands, so at least thinking about this is a contribution.

Do we like being reminded how much we pay for marketing? We do not.

 

[lill_canele]

I only find the deconstruction process and materials (and tests) to be interesting.
Like others I do have doubts on labor and his cost estimates.

I like seeing what’s in between the layers of leather and comparisons of various leather treatments and dyes.

Though I’m sure there are many videos on how to make a bag; so technically one would know what a bag is made of through a bag making process rather than a deconstruction process.

But it is an interesting niche to find out what makes up various luxury brands (or specific luxury bags) since most people would not want to cut up such expensive items.

 

[Christofle]

The man himself jumped on the bandwagon of deconstructing that has been quite popular on YouTube for some time. (Often paired with a reconstruction video)

My qualms with him in general is that he gives seriously low cost estimates as a way to go viral. Also he doesn’t put any merit into design either, which would be akin to assigning a value to a painting based on the cost of paint.

It’s essentially just a viral marketing campaign for his own website. However you have to give credit where credit is due and he is at least bringing attention to some of the short cuts taken by manufacturers. Moreover there’s only so much detail you can include in a short reel.

I prefer more detailed tear downs that focus more on construction without resorting to theatrics. (Such as this lovely Lobb VS Yearn tear down)

 

[seton]

I first came across him on TikTok and I just checked his numbers across all his social media and TikTok is where he has the most followers. 691,000 vs 300,000 on Instagram versus 49,000 on YouTube. Like most TikTok accounts that I follow, I find him entertaining especially for the few minutes that TikTok videos take up, but I don't take it seriously at all.

 

[af068]

Has anyone seen the short clips from this guy called tanner leatherstein where he cuts up bags , wallets and leather goods to dissect their quality? He also mentions what he thinks the prices should be.
I thought he was informative but I do cringe seeing leather goods cut and torn up like that. Of course I also don't know his credentials and how accurate his statements are .

In the beginning, I found his videos fun to watch, mostly for the shock value of destroying a bag, but now it’s basically the same thing over and over again.

I agree that luxury designers are normally not the best choice if you’re looking for a workhouse leather bag. Sure, Hermès may be an exception but there are cheaper options available.

Having said this, I think Tanner Leatherstein misses the entire point about fashion or luxury bags. It’s not just about the craftsmanship or the “status” as he always says. It’s about the design itself.

There are many people who can paint but not everyone is Rembrandt. There are many people who can sew but not everyone is a master couturier like Christian Dior himself. Design makes all the difference. And yes, there’s a markup with good or elegant or fun or innovative design. But it’s not always about pure craftsmanship (there are tons of good leather craftspeople on Etsy but their designs are so basic and boring) and not always about the “status” (like people who collect the Lady Art bags, the Dior bags that are designed by famous contemporary artists). Sometimes it’s just about the design - and that’s fine!

The only reason why I feel strongly about this now is because there are people who go on and on in the comments section about how they have superior tastes because all they care about is the craftsmanship. It’s crazy how humans will always find a way, precisely, to make anything about “status.” The very same people who will say people who buy designers are all just obsessed with “status.”

 

[GoingRogue]

In the beginning, I found his videos fun to watch, mostly for the shock value of destroying a bag, but now it’s basically the same thing over and over again.

I agree that luxury designers are normally not the best choice if you’re looking for a workhouse leather bag. Sure, Hermès may be an exception but there are cheaper options available.

Having said this, I think Tanner Leatherstein misses the entire point about fashion or luxury bags. It’s not just about the craftsmanship or the “status” as he always says. It’s about the design itself.

There are many people who can paint but not everyone is Rembrandt. There are many people who can sew but not everyone is a master couturier like Christian Dior himself. Design makes all the difference. And yes, there’s a markup with good or elegant or fun or innovative design. But it’s not always about pure craftsmanship (there are tons of good leather craftspeople on Etsy but their designs are so basic and boring) and not always about the “status” (like people who collect the Lady Art bags, the Dior bags that are designed by famous contemporary artists). Sometimes it’s just about the design - and that’s fine!

The only reason why I feel strongly about this now is because there are people who go on and on in the comments section about how they have superior tastes because all they care about is the craftsmanship. It’s crazy how humans will always find a way, precisely, to make anything about “status.” The very same people who will say people who buy designers are all just obsessed with “status.”

I agree 100%. His review on an LV canvas bag was ridiculous to me because LV never claimed the monogram bags were leather…people don’t read the descriptions that clearly say canvas with vachetta leather trim. LV’s branding and logo has an extensive history of luxury and design that is not “mediocre” as he would rate it when estimating the cost. He’s got an ulterior motive as most of these bag reviewers do, which is to sell their products. He has a leather brand called pegai.

 

[maris.crane]

His alias is so corny but I’m subscribed. I accept and expect the markup on luxe goods.

 

[dissyg]

He has a very specific perspective that doesn’t always make sense to me when it comes to reviewing luxury goods. His schtick reminds me of Rose Anvil’s channel, but RA started out cutting apart and reviewing men’s work boots, a category of products where things like durability and longevity and strength of construction are key. It’s also not a luxury category, so prices and quality are more closely linked so it’s easier to directly compare products.

Trying to apply that standard to luxury handbags doesn’t make much sense to me. Sure, some people are looking for a workhorse bag, and there are some luxe brands that provide some options, but there are also infinite options in contemporary brands and from independent craftspeople - and those are much better value for your money.

Quality is something you expect from luxury brands, but it’s not what you’re paying luxury prices for. And there’s more to quality than just assuming that the ideal bag is always made out of hand saddle stitched veg tanned leather.

 

[pasdedeux1]

The man himself jumped on the bandwagon of deconstructing that has been quite popular on YouTube for some time. (Often paired with a reconstruction video)

My qualms with him in general is that he gives seriously low cost estimates as a way to go viral. Also he doesn’t put any merit into design either, which would be akin to assigning a value to a painting based on the cost of paint.

It’s essentially just a viral marketing campaign for his own website. However you have to give credit where credit is due and he is at least bringing attention to some of the short cuts taken by manufacturers. Moreover there’s only so much detail you can include in a short reel.

I prefer more detailed tear downs that focus more on construction without resorting to theatrics. (Such as this lovely Lobb VS Yearn tear down)

Dan the cobbler is my FAVORITE. I just love him.

 

[Miss Ell]

I follow TL on Instagram and I find his reviews quite informative and entertaining. I have a friend who is a bag maker, thus from her information I also made a rough calculation on how much a certain bag should fairly cost from the material use and the number of man-hours spent to make a bag, it's supposedly a simple math. I also admit that indeed the luxury brands can afford lavish marketing which also adds to the price tags of their products. However, I'm aware that a bag's design doesn't come for free and this is missing from TL's review. In the end, we also buy the design that we like, right? There are bespoke smaller leather bag brands out there who make excellent quality bags with premium materials and are fully hand-stitched. It's important to know what we spend our money for (and why: for the status? It's also totally fine!!), I guess.

P.S. I like also Gentleman's gazette review even if they focus on menswear. For example, in this video below they reviewed LV weekend's bag in a more geeky approach as a consumer. They also tell the history of the brand.()

 

[dissyg]

I do wonder how much monetary “cost” should come from a design if it’s one that has already been around longer than most of us have been alive? The Hermes Kelly has to be coming up on a century at this point. Coming up with seasonal colors surely shouldn’t inflate the price that much?