As clothing leather was used for skirts, parkas, sandals and moccasins. For shelter it was used to make tents and teepees. In the art of weaponry, leather was used to make shields and weapon sheathes. The first tanners' guilds appeared early in the Roman Empire. They spread throughout Europe by the time of the Renaissance.
Leather is still a hot item in international trade.
India, a major exporter of leather, has over 550 tanneries near Calcutta alone. The Vietnamese company, Bitis, has the capacity to manufacture 12 million pairs of shoes per year and plans to enter the markets of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Advances in tanning and effluent processing are major priorities of the industry. The refinement of high performance leather has resulted in features that include improved water repellency, low water absorption, fast and soft drying, and durability. Leather comes from hides and skins which are differentiated on the basis of size.