C.F. Stead Gaucho Waxed Kudu

The colorway is used by several premium bootmakers including Tricker's, Crown Northampton, Oak Street Bootmakers, and Meermin for heritage footwear construction. Gaucho was recently reintroduced to the market after supply chain disruptions made the leather temporarily unavailable.

Gaucho represents one of four shades available for C.F. Stead Naked Kudu leather, alongside Chocolate Truffle, Nutmeg, and Snuff. These shades are chosen to enhance the raw beauty of the leather with rich, natural brown hues. The Gaucho shade specifically features a warm, tan-brown color that showcases the leather's natural character, complete with authentic scars and markings from the wild animal's life.

The colorway has a matte, slightly rugged texture that pairs effortlessly with denim and casual wear. As a versatile earthy tone, Gaucho works well for both casual and refined outfits. The color allows the natural grain patterns and blemishes of the kudu hide to remain visible, creating visual interest and ensuring each piece is unique.

Gaucho is available in two primary finish types from C.F. Stead. The Naked Kudu version is a soft, full-bodied kudu grain leather with a full aniline finish that offers a subtle, natural pull-up with real depth that can readily polish. The Waxed Kudu version uses C.F. Stead's 'Janus' tannage with full wax impregnation, which draws forth the natural grain blemishes to create leather full of charm and character.

The leather is sourced from wild antelope in Southern Africa, and its distinctive grain is shaped by scars and marks from the animal's life. Average skin size ranges from 13 to 15 square feet, with thickness between 1.6 and 2.2 mm. Despite its supple feel, kudu hide provides a striking combination of softness with strength, featuring all the natural blemishes, marks, and scratches of wild antelope.

Gaucho kudu leather develops a rich, rugged patina with wear, getting more comfortable over time. The leather ages gracefully thanks to its malleable composition, natural waxiness, and density of its fibers. As it ages, the leather compresses and stiffens slightly while retaining its dense but soft feel.

The leather develops an incredible patina aside from gaining comfort. One defining feature is that kudu leather ages exceptionally due to the suppleness of the material, making the patina highly responsive to wear patterns. As the leather can dry out slightly and turn greyish as it dries, this color change signals the need for conditioning care.

Best practice for maintaining Gaucho kudu leather is to first remove dirt from the leather with a dry or slightly damp cloth, let it dry fully for an hour, then apply a small amount of wax oil. To prevent the leather from drying out, periodic nourishment and waterproofing is recommended using Dubbin Wax from Famaco or Renovateur for lighter protection.

Over time the leather can dry out, so cleaning it with a soft brush and applying Saphir Medaille D'or Creme 1925 in Neutral keeps it hydrated. Tricker's recommends using neutral polish to maintain kudu leather footwear. The waxed finish helps preserve and enhance the leather's inherent characteristics while providing added protection against the elements.

Crown Northampton offers the Gaucho colorway on their Harlestone derby and Everdon Wholecut styles, as well as on leather belts. The company uses C.F. Stead's Naked Kudu leather that has gone through tanning and dyeing processes with the surface remaining untreated to highlight any natural blemishes, scars, and imperfections from the hide's life on the African plains.

Tricker's offers Gaucho Kudu in their Grassmere, Stow, Ethan, and Woodstock styles. The leather features a full-grain, low gloss finish with natural scratch and wear marks from the antelope's grazing habits. Due to grazing mainly among thorn trees, kudu hide becomes scratched and scarred, and these marks give the leather an inimitable character making each pair of shoes and boots unique. Tricker's constructs these styles with Goodyear welted construction.

Oak Street Bootmakers and Meermin also utilize Gaucho Waxed Kudu for various boot styles. Meermin offers plain toed service boots made with the Waxy Kudu leather in Gaucho shade, sourced exclusively from the C.F. Stead tannery.