The age-old question of whether leather’s the best option or not is yet to be solved, and that’s only because it all depends on you, your style, your needs, and your preferences.
Canvas or leather? Are you seeking something that’s light, young, and bohemian? Or are you more inclined towards the classics, the stylish, and the formal?
Light or heavy? Eco-friendly or animal-costing?
Both materials do have their advantages, and both tend to outperform the other in certain regards. For example, while leather is more durable and more forgiving when it comes to being able to go along with certain styles, canvas tends to be more ecologically friendly, lighter to have around, and changed the heaviest of styles into younger, more bohemian looks.
The general consensus is that leather’s good at being formal, and canvas is good at youthful.
If you were to look at the fashion industry overall, you’d notice there’s not “one size fits all” material, and this very much applies to the canvas vs. leather debate.
If you’re someone who gets around a lot and tends to carry a lot of stuff with them (especially when hiking or doing such activities), a leather bag most likely wouldn’t be your first pick. In fact, canvas may be the first material that catches your eye – light and easy to have around!
Canvas itself is a fairly easy-to-carry material and, while it certainly isn’t at all weatherproof, it’s fairly malleable and still pretty damn strong, especially when compared to other non-leather materials available on the market. The material tends to be able to adapt to the size and shape of the items that are placed inside without getting permanent deformities – one leg up over leather in that area!
On the other hand, you’ve got leather. Strong, sturdy, formal – pretty much everything a serious businessman or a stylish CEO needs in their life! However, unlike canvas, leather tends to be heavier, and less capable of adjusting its size and shape as needed without getting lasting deformities.
You’ve also got to take into account the versatility of the materials – the shapes they can be cut and arranged in. Leather, due to its stiffer nature, can still be very much stylized into formal accessories, but the bag itself will be more likely to take upon a modestly formal design, something some people may see as a downside – but that does depend on your tastes.
Unlike leather, canvas can be arranged in a plethora of shapes and designs, allowing designers to create the most intensely yet most stylishly ridiculous art forms on their very bags. Canvas, being a plainly-woven textile, is a lot easier to colour, bend, and arrange accordingly than leather is, and that may be seen as yet another advantage it has over leather.
The verdict? As with everything, it all depends. While leather is the age-old favourite for formality and elegance, canvas does definitely have its place in the world – just in different areas of the world, and probably not alongside leather just yet. And, if you’re still unsure as to what material would be best for you, ask yourself this:
Do you wish to go with beautifully put-together formality to glow in, or would you prefer a carefree, bohemian style to relax in?
