Production and Durability

Oh, how we wish there were an easy and durable way to heat-transfer or digitally print vibrant graphics onto hair-on hide, but it’s impossible. Believe us...we tried. We worked for more than 18 months with the expert R&D groups at all the world’s top flatbed printer companies including HP, EFI, Mutoh, Flora, Ricoh, Stratojet, Roland, Aeoon, CET, and others – all failed. The CMYK or latex inks just flake right off with our rigorous abrasion testing. And heat transfers just look cheesy as they peel away quickly.

Be OUTSPOKEN has developed an unprecedented, proprietary process using some of the finest pigments from Italy in a multi-coloured approach borrowing mixed-media techniques from painting and several other artistic methods. Our artist gurus offer this analogy: If you think of digital printing as putting down a layer 2 inches thick, our process compares at 2 stories high! 

Be OUTSPOKEN hides are intended to be stepped on and will accommodate normal foot (and paw) traffic. Our highly durable, brilliant pigments will look bold and amazing for years. We source our colours from one of the world’s most premier manufacturers in Italy and we have a global exclusive use of this special formulation colour recipe, a hard-fought conclusion of nearly 2 years of intensive product development.

Our production artisans excitedly create every small-batch run of hides with deep love, placing our signature designs on many different Brazilian hides. With all the colourways, vast assortment of trim and choice of artwork, you can have the perfect piece for your home or commercial space, and expect it to last for many years. And, it will be absolutely one-of-a-kind.

It’s extremely difficult to reliably infuse vibrant, full-colour graphics into hair, but thankfully we found a way. We also add a special UV-protective coating which fortifies the colours and resists sun fading. Trim is double-stitched with heavy-duty upholstery thread. And yes, even puppies can enjoy it! Easily cleaned in case of accidents.

We offer a 2-year durability warranty so you can be confident your purchased décor will last.

We call this our puppy-trot test. Our hides must withstand an infinite number of Westie trot-overs to be certified ‘durable’ and ready for our customers’ homes and businesses.

Trims and Stitching

We take great care in stitching trim onto our hides, using the correct needle head and heavy-duty weight of bonded nylon thread. It takes over 25 linear feet of trim for a standard Be OUTSPOKEN hide.

Colour Pigments

Our semitransparent pigments allow the 5 or 6 solid colours in our Defend Equality heart to be implemented in a myriad of beautiful gradient shades of reds, golds, oranges, pinks, yellows and blacks – a gorgeous spectrum. Every hide is created with more than 25 hours of handcrafted care.

Quality Brazilian Hides

We begin with hand-selected hides from our partner tanneries in Brazil.

CEO and Inventor, Susan Kaineg: "I personally comb through hundreds of hides in multiple Brazil cities to find the favorites that I want to bring to life as gorgeous works of art for homes and businesses. Brazil hides are well known as some of the finest quality in the world. We import them to our Vancouver production facility in batches and every one is pampered, pressed, clipped, photo-shot and matched with our appropriate art design. I have loved cowhides for decades and one of the favorite parts of my job is reviewing the finest natural, colour-dyed, and metallic acid washed hides for our curated collections."

Sustainable Sourcing and Production

All hides are natural by-products of the food industry, which would otherwise be discarded if not for their use in home decor, fashion and footwear, and other products.

Our colour pigments are environmentally friendly, acrylic type water-based materials.