Crocodile Leather: Price, Ethics, and Alternatives

Every crocodile bag I’ve encountered in the industry has carried a price tag far higher than anything made of cow, goat, or sheep. The leather itself is expensive—shockingly so. The one crocodile skin I bought purely for experimentation cost me about $1,000, for just one skin.

To craft a bag, you typically need at least two skins—and sometimes as many as four or five, depending on the size and design. When you add it all up, the material cost becomes staggering.

This led me to a bigger question: Is the crocodile leather economy anything like the cow, sheep, or goat leather industry, where hides are essentially byproducts of the meat trade and nearly worthless at the rawhide stage?

I suspected not. And if crocodile skin doesn’t follow the same economic model, then it occupies a completely different ethical and commercial category from the leathers that make up 90–95% of the global market.

There’s an important reason to investigate this. Research shows that more than half of people believe animals are killed solely for leather. But we know this is not the case for cow, sheep, or goat hides, which are byproducts of industries already operating at massive scale.

So why do so many people believe otherwise?

Perhaps because in the exotic leather market—like crocodile—the economics might actually work differently. If crocodile leather turns out to be a primary product rather than a byproduct, this could be the source of the widespread misunderstanding.

But I refuse to speculate without evidence.

Over the next four to eight weeks, I’m launching a comprehensive investigation. I’ll be speaking with:

• Crocodile farmers

• Tanneries specializing in exotic skins

• Artisans who work with crocodile leather

• Conservation specialists

• Scientists studying the species and ecosystems

My goal is simple: to fully understand the crocodile leather ecosystem from start to finish. Once my research is complete, I’ll publish a detailed video documenting everything I learn—right here on the channel.

Now here’s where things get interesting for my brand, Stow.

While sitting with this suspicion about the crocodile economy, our customers started requesting bags that carry the luxurious look of crocodile skin. But until I understand the ethics and economics behind the real material, I don’t want to work with it.

So we made a choice:

Use cowhide embossed with a crocodile pattern—rather than genuine exotic skins.

Cowhide is a confirmed byproduct of the meat industry, and we understand its supply chain intimately. With this approach, we’re able to offer the croc aesthetic without the price tag, and without stepping into ethical territory we haven’t yet fully researched.

These new embossed croc pieces are now available at stowlondon.co.uk under the Emboss Croc Collection, and customers who’ve already purchased them have shared incredibly positive feedback.

If the interest continues, we may roll this finish into more designs.

Here’s how the material works behind the scenes:

Tanneries take cowhides that aren’t suitable for our top-line aniline finishes—hides with small imperfections that need a more corrective approach. Instead of wasting them, they use hot, heavy metal plates etched with a crocodile grain pattern to stamp the texture permanently into the leather.

This process:

• Masks minor imperfections

• Uses more of the hide supply efficiently

• Creates a uniform, aesthetically pleasing finish

• Offers a crocodile-inspired look without exotic skins
  

Of course, no embossed pattern can perfectly replicate real crocodile. The differences are always detectable to trained eyes. But we’ve sourced one of the most realistic embossing plates available from a tannery in Italy, and we’re genuinely pleased with the look and feel.