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Interesting. I suppose I'm one of the few holdouts who still love leather clothing (motorcycle jackets, you weirdos ;-)) and accessories (I have multiple Saddleback Leather bags, wallets, etc). I don't see those items getting cheaper any time soon, I guess that indicates their profit margins have gone through the roof in the interim.

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The expense in producing fine leather goods is the labor costs. It's a craft which requires much training and/or experience, and highly-skilled leatherworkers do not come cheaply.

Is there any reason why someone in a developing country couldn't be trained to do it?

It's definitely not a niche skill.

Oh there are. They usually make up the "value" segment of the luxury goods markets.

For men's dress shoes brands like Meermin and Grant Stone (China) are competing with Carmina (Spain) and Alden (USA).

I'm sure there's others for every type of leather good imaginable.

As someone who loves a good quality leather belt (or wallet), I see the same situation in Europe. Probably not a US-specific problem, but a clothing industry problem (where they ask for insane prices and cut all the corners on quality).

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