Salmon Leather
A material from the fish industry, reimagined through luxury.
Salmon leather is made from the skin of salmon, a material that has traditionally had little value compared with the rest of the fish. At Kristian Eddé, we saw an opportunity to approach it differently: not as a substitute for another leather, but as a material with its own character, potential and connection to the fish industry.
The natural scale pattern, fine structure and variations of salmon skin give the leather a distinctive identity. We use it to create bags, wallets and accessories that bring a material from the fish industry into the world of luxury.
This is not leather made to imitate something else. It is salmon leather.
From fish skin to leather
Salmon skins are collected as a by-product of the food industry and can be processed into leather rather than being discarded or used for lower-value applications. Our salmon leather is tanned in Iceland by Nordic Fish Leather, using skins sourced from the Nordic salmon industry.
The tanning process transforms the fragile skin into a flexible and durable leather while retaining the characteristic pattern of the salmon skin. The result is a material with a very different expression from traditional leather, where its origin remains visible and becomes part of the finished product.
For us, this is one of the most interesting qualities of salmon leather. Luxury materials are often valued for their refinement and consistency, while salmon leather carries a visible connection to the animal and the industry it comes from.
Scandinavian salmon
Our work began with salmon leather from the Nordic region. Scandinavia has a long relationship with salmon, both as a food source and as an important part of its coastal and aquaculture industries. Working with Nordic salmon leather allows us to connect the material to this region and its industries, while developing it through Scandinavian design and craftsmanship.
The leather is tanned in Iceland before being brought to Stockholm, where it is cut, constructed and finished in our atelier. Working directly with the material allows us to continuously test its behaviour in different products and develop our understanding of what it can do.
Designing with the material
A material only becomes interesting when it can perform. At Kristian Eddé, salmon leather is developed through the demands of actual products. Wallets, bags, watch straps and other accessories require different levels of flexibility, strength, structure and finish. Through making, testing and refining, we continue to explore how salmon leather can perform within luxury production.
We don't simply design around the material. We design with it.
This hands-on process is particularly important because salmon leather is still a relatively young material within the luxury industry. Product development becomes part of the material research: every new object gives us another opportunity to understand its possibilities and limitations.
From wild salmon to land-farmed salmon
Our work with salmon leather has led to a larger question: what happens when the source of the salmon changes?
Together with partners in Scandinavia and Japan, Kristian Eddé has been exploring leather made from land-farmed salmon. The project investigates whether skins from land-based aquaculture can be successfully transformed into high-quality leather and integrated into luxury production.
This has required experimentation across the value chain, from sourcing and tanning to product development and traceability. The work brings together aquaculture, material development, craftsmanship and luxury design in a process that is still evolving.
In 2025, Kristian Eddé presented a collection made from leather derived from land-farmed salmon, demonstrating the potential of a new source of salmon to create new possibilities for the material.
The collection was an important proof of concept. The larger question is what this could mean when developed beyond a single collection.
Why salmon leather?
We don't work with salmon leather simply because it is an alternative to another material. We work with it because salmon leather is its own material, with a distinctive appearance and a visible connection to where it comes from.
That connection creates an opportunity for fashion to engage with an industry it rarely interacts with at this level. By creating desirable products from salmon skin, we can help create a different perception of the material and open a new relationship between the fashion and fish industries.
The material is the starting point. The product is the proof.
For Kristian Eddé, the ambition is to keep pushing that relationship further exploring how luxury, design and fashion can create new value from materials originating in the sea.
