Home — The Journey — Step 7 of 7
Edges burnished, surface glazed, hardware set, the piece conditioned and inspected one last time. Finishing is the quiet difference between a luxury object and a craft-fair one — and the end of a chain that began in a Louisiana marsh.
The Last Details
Finishing is everything you notice without naming it. Raw cut edges are painted and burnished smooth so they won't fray; the surface is glazed to a shine or buffed to a soft matte; hardware — clasps, buckles, zippers in brass or stainless — is set true; the leather is conditioned; and the whole piece gets a final quality-control inspection before it's allowed out the door. Skip or rush any of it and the piece reads as homemade no matter how good the hide was. At Mark Staton Co., this is a formal role: Karin Hebert is the family's quality-control lead — and the shop is unusual in owning the entire chain through final finish:
"Everyone's different, but we're one of a kind. I know there's tanneries where you can bring in your deer or cow, but it's not a one-stop shop where you can walk in with a raw hide and leave with a purse."— Karin Hebert, Mark Staton Co. (The Advocate)
The Standard a Finish Must Meet
Ask Louisiana's makers what the finish is for, and they answer almost in unison. Cocodri's Mary Tutwiler:
"My goal is to design beautiful, practical pieces that will last a lifetime."— Mary Tutwiler, Cocodri (cocodri.com)
Acadiana's Joi Johnston:
"I'm trying to make pieces that can be worn and used forever, classic look and feel."— Joi Johnston, JOI (Louisiana Life)
And New Orleans' Micah McGrath: "Because I believe your accessories should last a lifetime, while being durable and beautiful." The finish is the promise made physical — and several makers, including Torino Leather in the New Orleans area, design pieces explicitly "to improve with age."
The End of the Journey
Hold a finished Louisiana alligator piece and you're holding all seven steps at once: a hide sourced from a protected marsh, graded by people whose living depends on honesty, tanned over four months, then read, cut, built, and finished by hand. The price was never a markup. It was the work — and it traces, tag and all, back to Louisiana.
Sources: The Advocate (Mark Staton Co.); cocodri.com; Louisiana Life (Joi Johnston); micahmcgrath.com; torinoleather.com. See also Is It Worth It?
Now You Know How It's Made
You've followed the hide from the marsh to the bench. When you're ready, find a licensed Louisiana maker working in genuine, CITES-tagged American alligator.
Meet the Makers