The Indian Luxist: When did Ostrich skin become fashionable?

Gucci Leather Jacket ($17,995)
Gucci's 2007 Fall Fashion Week featured models in head-to-toe ostrich, with items ranging from purses to this fox-fur-trimmed leather jacket.

It's something I've been wondering about for a while now. And this week, Portfolio.com did a fun piece on how "the bumpy skin of a gangly bird" has gone "from overlooked to center stage".

Says the article:

In 2004, ostrich producers were faced with competition from other exotic skins, and prices were sagging. The South African Ostrich Business Chamber, an industry umbrella group, realized that an odd-looking bird with pockmarked skin was not going to sell itself. So it created Ostrivision, the industry’s first-ever collective marketing effort.

South African suppliers began to jointly create mock-up examples of novel ways to use ostrich leather, such as in an automotive interior or for a furniture line. They started coordinating their presence at major leather fairs in Las Vegas, Bologna, Italy, and Hong Kong. Last summer, the South African Ostrich Business Chamber sponsored the first Paris Fashion Week show by a South African designer, Gavin Rajah, whose models strutted the runway wearing ostrich-leather dresses and jewelry and carrying ostrich-leather handbags. And last winter, targeting interior decorators, South African ostrich-leather producers participated in the first U.S.-based showroom devoted to the product, in Atlanta, chosen for its modestly priced venue space and convenience as an international hub.

Ostrivision’s marketing blitz has led to double-digit gains in sales and an 80 percent spike in prices. Karl Lagerfeld, Escada, Gucci, and Cole Haan all feature ostrich in their collections this fall. Ostrich-accented interiors are among the options available in Toyota’s 2008 Tundra Double Cab Limited and CrewMax Limited pickups. And Veuve Clicquot’s special-edition, jumbo-size bottles made for the 130th anniversary of its non-vintage Yellow Label brut champagne are clad in labels handcrafted from ray, alligator, or ostrich.

Now, Ostrich leather is finding itself on everything from lamps to umbrellas!

R&Y Augousti Lamp ($995)
This shagreen-and-ostrich lamp is one of a growing number of R&Y Augousti home furnishings—from picture frames to curtains—to use ostrich leather.

Cole Haan shoes ($1,000)
The Venetian is a favorite shoe of Robert Redford. Cole Haan's fall line uses ostrich for its durability and distinctiveness, especially compared to snakeskin.

Escada handbag ($3,500)
Escada is spotlighting its ostrich-leather handbags and accessories in its 2007 advertising campaign.

Classic Brigg Umbrella ($700)
While Brigg has offered ostrich-accented umbrellas for decades, this year the English company reported a substantial increase in its exotic-leather sales overseas.