Even if you’re not a leather aficionado, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of cordovan. If you have, you've probably wondered why it’s so expensive. Named in part for the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was first produced in the 7th century, cordovan is becoming increasingly prized in the realm of men’s fashion. Though it’s also used to craft wallets and watch bands, cordovan is predominantly sourced to craft high-end dress shoes. The raw material clocks in at around $100 per square foot, but are cordovan shoes really worth the elaborate price? What makes cordovan so different is that it’s a self-polishing material, which means it only gets better-looking with time. The bonus is that cordovan is waterproof. It’s also extremely durable, not cracking the way basically every other shoe leather does. That’s because over time it ripples rather than creases, and creases are what lead to cracks. Provided the soles are changed out periodically, a pair of cordovan shoes can last more or less indefinitely. Cordovan is made from horse hide, specifically the flat muscle from the rump of the horse. Each hide yields two ovals of genuine quality material, which isn’t much. Processing the raw material into quality leather takes a minimum of 6 months, and there are only a few tanneries on the planet that bother to produce cordovan these days. All of these factors are the reason why cordovan shoes are so expensive, often running about $1,200 a pair. Still, if you’re looking to buy one pair of high-quality shoes, look for cordovan shoes — they can literally last the rest of your life.
