Vachetta is an untreated leather commonly use by the famous Louis Vuitton for their luxury hand bags.
A new Vachetta leather is normally light beige in colour. Some may not like it but the a Vachetta will turn into a dark brown shade as it ages. It fact, there is a term for the process and we call it 'Patina'. To those who hates it, it is a unavoidable process as the leather itself are very susceptible to water, stains and exposure to sunlight. Hand cream especially, the main culprit for turning your handle to a deep dark hue. Good side to the Patina is that it adds unique character to your precious bag like no others as no two bags ages the same way.
It is not the end of the world just yet, patination is actually reversible. You can send your bag to the restoration specialist for treatments to restore and refresh its appearance. Specialist attention required for such delicate leather as to ensure it gets the best type of cleaning without unnecessary pigments being applied.
Some bag restorer advises to colour restore the leather back to it’s original lighter colour. Never ever go for such restoration method. At a glance, this treatment may look visually appealing at first, but years or even months down the line the Vachetta will crack and peel. You will end up with a fake looking Louis Vuitton.
Here at Leather Works we uses a restoration method that not only extract but at the same time protect the leather against drying. We would never colour the Vachetta leather.