Daveyap

Hopefully, it is split leather but heavily coated with a thick layer of pigments and dyes. But based on your description, it could also be bonded leather. I used bonded leather in my office lounge and they can last up to 5 years depending on usage.

Got picture?

Not easy to answer your question but would you consider a finished product like a Sofitalia Leather Sofa as Made in Italy if all the raw materials are imported from Italy and other parts of the world into China to be assembled into the final product?

ivank is very lucky, he paid for artificial leather and when he found out about it, he gets a replacement sofa in real leather for the price of artificial leather.

Oh No! EL is going to dump Sooks's sofa and its resident creepy crawlies at my doorstep Help!

Did you try using the finger nail test? Use your finger nail and press down on the leather, if the mark remains for several seconds or more until you rubbed it out, it is real leather.

Interesting that you should bring up Animal Farm into this thread. The famous maxim "Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad" can be nicely interpreted to mean that all furniture (99% of all sofa furniture are 4 legged) are inherently Good, it is only the 2 legged Bad furniture manufacturer/salesman who turn them into crap.

Many thanks for your clarifications on Jeanius and EL's factories. So the leather that is supplied by EL's factory is not top notch leather? To be fair to EL, EL did mention that it is entry level cowhides from Tuscany, Italy so he is not claiming that it is top notch. But based on what you wrote above, it seems the leather would not be from Tuscany too. Also, if EL's sofa design is found in other stores, wouldn't that mean that anyone can just go to the factory and placed an order and sell the same furniture in direct competition with them at EL's expense. Shouldn't the factory be protecting their own people since EL claimed they are owned by the factory?

You too, Bro. Hope you get your dream furniture at a great price

It is a pity indeed. As you reminded me about them when you posted this thread, I was planning to drop by this weekend because their shop is very near my home.

http://www.modhomes.com.sg/

Jeanius is right that it is more important that the raw hides be processed by a reputable tannery and not judged their quality solely on the leather thickness and country of origin. In this regard, I would encourage those who would like to learn more about the leather industry to subscribe to leather journals and publications in order to gain an in-depth understanding and appreciation of the leather industry. Below is a link to one of the many online leather publications for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! http://www.leathermag.com/news/categoryfront.php/id/217/Top_20_tanners.html

EL doesn't know that consumers/layman like me are subscribers to Leather Journals and Publications that give very extensive and in-depth coverage on everything relating to the Leather Industry and Sofa Production. Below link is just one out of numerous typical pages/articles that I would read regularly. http://www.leathermag.com/news/categoryfront.php/id/217/Top_20_tanners.html

I would also like to make this the Number One Thread too:sport-smiley-004: I am not asking you to produce the Certificate in the forum, that is not a reasonable request. You need to display the Certificate in your Showroom lah. If you come to my office, you will see lots of Certificates hanging on the wall because many customers want to and expect to see all the Certifications before they will do business with you especially when some customers are required by their own customers to do business only with suppliers who meet their stringent criteria.

EL, even though I myself am fully aware that Italian leather is very common BUT SO ARE COWHIDE LEATHERS FROM EVERY COUNTRY THAT CONSUMES A LARGE QUANTITY OF BEEF. My question throughout this thread was why every furniture retailer likes to mention that their leather is from Italy when how the leather is tanned is even more crucial than the origin of the leather. You took it one stage further by claiming your Bovine Leather Hides are from Tuscany, Italy, so you just need to substantiate it for the benefit of everyone. I didn't buy any stuff from EL yet so I do not need to know your profit margin but your many competitors and consumers like Sam in this forum have been repeatedly raising valid questions that basically argues that for a given type and quality of leather, there is a pricing formula for it and that if one can sell at a price that is unusually low, then it means the quality of the leather is not what it is made out to be. You have been raising the defence all this while that you have a great secret lobang for Italian leathers from Tuscany but unlike your competitors, I am not interested in this secret lobang because I merely want to redo and DIY my one sofa seat and 2 cushions and have very specific requirements. At the end of the day, there will be no conclusion to this issue because the arguments and counter arguments will just Ding Dong back and forth.

Ok, I will ask Jeanius about it, to be fair to you.

You are right that I am not a competitor and tens of thousands of people do read this forum. You only need to display the Certificate of Origin prominently at the reception counter/cashier of your showroom for everyone to see. You will be doing yourself and everyone of your customers a big favour by reassuring them that your leather sofas are the real deal and you get to silence all your competitors at the same time. If you do just that, I can bet you many of your customers will come into this forum to stand up for you and more power to you. You will be thanking me for helping to raise the profile of EL.

My custom design and custom size teak dining table is exactly what you have in mind. It has ornate intricate carvings and yet you can see through all the way to the floor through the glass top. Go to Echoes of the East along 374 East Coast Road. Look for the owner, Mary. Her number is 63467275. You may even get to see a photo of my dining table even though it was made way back in 2004 as she likes to take photos of all her works for future reference because they are all made according to individual customers' preferences and tastes.

EL, it will only cost you just $10 to convince all your doubters once and for all that your leather originates from Tuscany, Italy. So are you game for it? http://english.sccci.org.sg/index.cfm?GPID=31

I have visited your showroom and sat on your leather sofas. It is real leather, there is no doubt about that but surely it cannot be that difficult or unreasonable to expect a business entity to have documents on hand to prove the quality is as what is asserted. If you do produced a Certificate of Origin for your Leather, I will believe it because I do know how to examine these types of documents as they are commonly required for the import and export of goods.

Q: What has it got to do with me? A: Is it a sin to be curious by nature? Q: Maybe you wanted a joint venture with him as well? A: My love of home furnishings does not transcends into turning it into a business.

Hmmmm......if you owned your factories or according to you, the factory owns you, why do you still need to OEM with Zolano? Copyright issues? Better equipment? Better designs? Better Quality Control? Cheaper production costs? The list of possibilities is endless, not necessarily a bad thing though............

Q: may I know how can you prove that we do not use Tuscan leather? A: May I know how you can prove that you are using cowhides that originate from Tuscany? 90% of furniture retailers claim their leathers are from Italy but you go one step further to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack by stating explicitly that they are from the region of Tuscany. I would strongly suggest that you obtain the Certificate of Origin from the Tannery that is supplying your factories and display that Certificate of Origin prominently in your Showroom. Q: Have you seen our sofa sets? A: I sat on your display sets when I visited your showroom twice. Q: Cow hides and leather are totally different thing do you know that? A: I have many leather stuff made from the Skins/Hides of all sorts of animals. Q: Your research tells you that most of the cowhides comes from Europe? A: My research tells me that the BEST cowhides come from Europe (not just Italy). The Americans would love to claim they have the best cowhides but their love of barb wire and cattle branding proves otherwise. Q: I think its a waste or time trying to convince you. A: You can convince me by displaying the Certificate of Origin in your Showroom or at least a Written Declaration from your factory that your leathers are made from Cowhides that originate from the the Italian province of Tuscany. Q: It seems that you and Jeanius and Sam knows more about our business than me. A: I cannot speak for Sam and Jeanius but I would like to know more about your business only because EL wants to stand out from the rest and therefore we want to scrutinize you more carefully before giving EL the Stamp of Approval. EL, I got no issues with your after sales customer service which I think is commendable. I have already drop the issue about your 5 years warranty on leather anymore because only Time will be the best judge of it. But I am still bothered by the fact that it is just so easy for any furniture retailer to make verbal claims about their products without documentary proof. I will be going back to your Showroom in a couple of weeks and I hope to see some Non Fake Certificate from the Factory or Tannery or your cowhide/leather supplier to back up your claims on the origins of your leathers.

Yup, more power to them and they are indeed a more established company than Executive Living, opps...hehehe...cheap shot from me.

Although most of EL's comments about their sofa has been deleted by the moderators as a form of advertising, luckily many forum members had quoted those comments in their replies so most of it had been preserved in this thread as the moderators left them alone. Anyway, my question to EL would be whether it made any business sense to use entry level "Tuscany (Italian) Leather and or Brazilian (South American) Leather in their mass market sofas. Does that mean your 4 factories (owned and operated by EL) in Malaysia use the entry level grade just so that you can proudly claimed that your sofas are made from Italian/South American Leather? So can I take it that it is just a marketing ploy even though mid-range leathers from India/Pakistan are comparable in quality to the entry level Italian/Brazilian leather?