What is top-grain leather?

Top-grain leather is a high grade of leather often considered a fine leather. Items such as clothing, handbags and luggage with the term "fine leather" usually are made of top-grain leather.

Top-grain leather is made via a slightly different process than standard leather or full-grain leather. This type of leather takes a piece of full-grain leather and splits it before sanding away the imperfections. It then gets fake grain on the leather, followed by coloring and treating so the leather looks even and uniform. It is not as durable as the highest quality full-grain leather, but it looks uniform and works well with handbags and wallets in particular.