Leather finished with a hard, high-gloss coating built up in layers over its surface.
Patent leather is identified by a high-gloss surface coating applied over leather. The finish is built through coating stages, with the final coat supplying the required gloss. Leather preparation and the underlying coats also matter to the finished surface, so the shine is part of a finishing system rather than simply the result of polishing an ordinary leather shoe. The V&A records black patent leather evening pumps made by John Lobb around 1960. That example illustrates a formal footwear use without making black evening shoes the limit of the material’s application.
In job listings
The term appears in product descriptions more than in job descriptions. Roles in footwear and leather goods may need it when advising on care, because a high-gloss coating marks and cleans differently from a natural leather finish. Search local jobs for “footwear”.
