Italian Menswear Series, Part VI: Il Bisonte

If you follow The Sartorialist closely, you’ve probably at some point come across a picture of Antonio “Wanny” Di Filippo. He’s somewhat of a popular figure among Italian menswear geeks. In the 1960s, he was a hippie making leather sandals and living with like-minded artisans on the coast of Italy. Nearly ten years later, he opened up a small artisan shop in the historical center of Florence, Italy, where he designed, hand crafted, and sold a range of leather goods. He named his shop Il Bisonte (The Bison) for the peace and strength that the animal conveyed. Today, his small artisan shop has grown become a worldwide operating company, it still retains the company’s original style and traditional artisanship.

It’s a real pleasure handling one of Il Bisonte’s products. Everything is produced in Tuscany, including the raw material, and the pieces have a relaxed “old world” Italian feel to them. The company has made everything you can think of of over the years. There are the usual bags, briefcases, wallets, agendas, belts, and stationary accessories that you would expect. In addition, however, Il Bisonte has also made cigarette cases, watches, watch boxes, bracelets, money clips and even shoes. The designs to all these are practical and simple, but also very innovative and modern.

Perhaps most notable is the material Il Bisonte uses for most of their items. Most of these are made from vechetta cowhides - a full grain, vegetable tanned leather that has been left untreated after the tanning process (other leathers go through a “finishing” process). This means it will darken over time when exposed to sunlight and take up the oils from your hands. If you enjoy patinas on your leather, you should look for goods made from vachetta. Be warned, however, that since it has been left untreated, it is also more susceptible to stains (including waterstains). If the stain is superficial (like a mark from a ballpoint pen), you can try gently rubbing a white pencil eraser over it. If the stain has soaked into the leather, however, it’s a bit more problematic. One option is to apply leather conditioner. This will darken the leather and make the stain less noticeable. You can also just wait for the natural patina to darken over time, which will also help mask the stain. For the most part, however, the stain will always be there.

If you’re worried about stains, spray a protectant over your vechettas before using them. You can use Apple Garde, Shining Monkey, or Wilson’s Leather Protector spray. Your vechettas will still develop patinas even with these protectants, so it’s really just a preventative measure against any liquids that might hit your vechetta. You should note, however, that vechettas really shouldn’t be babied. The charm of these leathers is in how they develop a patina. In fact, Il Bisonte has developed a bit of a cult following because of how the pieces naturally age. Consider this stuff a more “sartorial” version of the workwear craze over “raw leathers.”