Giorgio Santamaria

Crafting crocodile handbags

• Giorgio specialises in crocodile leather
• He creates bespoke pieces for international clients
• Giosa comes from the initials of his surname

Giorgio Santamaria began learning the art of working crocodile leather form his father Santo when he was a boy. Santo started a leather workshop in 1947 and Giorgio always helped him initially with small tasks and then progressed to the craft table. Since his early discovery of the craft, he has loved the art of leather working. His father used to cut leather and his mother used to sew it. As a boy, he covered his sailing boat with coloured cut-outs of leather. He fulfils clients design dreams by creating unique and personalized pieces tailored to customer needs. Crocodile products are expensive as they require a knowledge and skillset that is rare to come by, especially to master shaping it in a way to highlight its beauty.

Interview

©Giòsa Milano

©Giòsa Milano

What does working with crocodile skin mean?

It is a living material. There are no two identical leather pieces, each one is unique and transforming the leather into an object is an art. Thanks to the skills that tanneries have acquired in the creation of many finishes, it is possible to create any type of object.

Why is crocodile skin so expensive?

Two things make an object made in crocodile expensive: the raw material, the most precious leather in the world and the craftsmasnhip required to shape it. You need the hands of expert and specialized craftsmen.

Is your craft considered in danger?

Before the health emergency due to Covid-19, we were heading towards the extinction of the artisan savoir-faire. Now I believe this event has changed everything: people have understood how craftsmanship coexists in the environment.

What is little known in your work?

The difference between crocodile and alligator. You can recognize which is which by reading the scales. We often teach the most curious customers how to recognize them while showing the skins of different species with different origins.

Giorgio Santamaria is a master artisan: he began his career in 1970 and he started teaching in 1990

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