The production of leather dates back to primitive times, and there is something that remains fascinating to this very day about the colour, texture, and feel of quality-made leather goods. One of the world's oldest arts, leather making dates back some 7,000 years. But let's have a look at the international usage of leather, with some advice about purchasing leather goods abroad, including holiday hotspot recommendations for purchasing some truly unique leather products.

Providing a window into the past, there are several wall paintings and artefacts from Ancient Egyptian times that indicate the use of leather in Egyptian civilisation for sandals, clothes, shrouds, even buckets and bottles. Widespread in Ancient Greece and Rome, leather has been an important industrial raw material ever since. Leather footwear and clothing have been found in abundance in Roman sites throughout Great Britain.

However for interesting and appealing leather goods today, you're certain to spot something special in the leather markets of Mexico, Morocco, or Siberia.

• Producing some two-thirds of leather in Mexico, the northern city of León is famed for both this product and the expertise of the city's shoemakers. Rough estimates give the number of tanneries in León at 1,200 - although the vast majority of these are small-scale operations, employing 20 workers or less.

• The harsh Siberian environment dictates the tendency to favour the traditional skin and fur designs of the bygone centuries. The regional clothes of northern peoples from around Yakutia featured leather leggings, a leather binding worn over the abdomen, leather-exterior work mittens, and with outer garments bound together by a leather girdle. These items are still in popular usage today, and are often exquisitely decorated.

• A must-see on any visit to Morocco, the tanneries of Marrakesh and Fes provide an insight to practises developed in medieval times and maintained to this day. Fes, producer of half of Morocco's total production of leather goods, is especially renowned for its leather and Fassi leather has long been regarded as one of the finest in the world.

To see these leather goods first hand, it's not necessary to have a round-the-world ticket and a sense of adventure, as it's possible to buy Siberian leather goods in the Russian metropolitan centres of Moscow and St. Petersburg, in Russian specialty stores throughout Europe, and online. Moroccan leather is in constant supply throughout Morocco, but also marketplaces in Spain and shops in London. Mexican leather is available in abundance not only throughout Northern Mexico, but also in boutique gift shops in Los Angeles hotels, and throughout the United States as far afield as hotels in New York. Bon voyage and happy shopping!