Writing in the latest edition of ‘World Leather’ magazine, Dr Martin Kleban of the chemicals giant Bayer AG revealed the company has developed the technology to enable a limitless range of fragrances to be infused in leather.  Based around aroma-containing microcapsules that rupture under pressure, the technology brings with it the prospect of training shoes that smell of tangy lemon, armchairs with the aroma of wild forests and car interiors redolent of pine forests.

Explains Dr Kleban: "The advantage over direct perfuming is that the fragrance is only released when the leather is subjected to mechanical strain.

"If a treated leather article is subjected to pressure or moved - for example, if somebody sits down on a treated armchair or walks in treated shoes - some of the microcapsules in the leather rupture and release their fragrance."

Ironically, the concept was originated in response to requests from customers for the ‘typical leather smell’ that has all but been eliminated from the end product by modern tanning and finishing processes.