Over the years I've been lucky enough to handle all types of leathers. From bison, horse, kangaroo, to culatta, it's been fascinating handling top tier leather qualities from the best tanneries around the world.
I must admit my current favorite leather is culatta. For those of you who aren't familiar with this type of leather - it's simply a special "cut" of the hide, comprised of the rear (butt), the belly middles and the hind shanks. By cutting the butt and the belly together, two very different types of leathers are fused into one interesting "cut" when applied to footwear. To the average "joe" or person who only desires/likes shiny and new (think girl who only wears Coach, Louis Vuitton, blah blah) culatta is definitely not for them.
In my opinion, the appeal to this leather is the stunning texture, moving from unique grains to natural scarring to smooth suedes. Let's take a look at the below shoe from Carol Christian Poell. Notice the vamp area around the toe box and the wonderful texture achieved from the utilization of the culatta. As you move to the left of the vamp towards the medial section, one will notice that the texture of the leather transitions into a smooth oiled thick suppler leather on the same piece of leather.
Below is another example of culatta at its best - a pair of boots from Augusta (A1923). Notice the transition of texture on the rear shafts of the boots. The natural scarring and textures are driven by the lifestyle & story of the animal. While many might see this pair and think it is dirty and cheap looking, real footwear connoisseurs only feel their hearts beating faster.
Unfortunately (and fortunately) most brands that utilize this type of leather are "artisanal" and thus quite expensive with limited production and distribution. I say fortunately because these types of shoes are not going to be found everywhere and thus make them unique and rare.
It's taken me many years with endless research and hunting to find the pairs of culatta boots I own.
