Photo: Instagram / ADM_gov
Of course, money doesn’t buy class. At the same time, beauty is relative, so we could spend all day talking about how some customizations can be both horrible and gorgeous, depending on who you ask.
No matter how you feel about the use of real leather for car interiors, though, one thing is certain: use certain types of leather without proper authorizations, and what you’ll fall foul of the law. You will get your fully custom interior alright, but it will also be illegal. As such, it could fall into the hands of the authorities when you least expect it.
Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency seized one such vehicle earlier this week, in the port of Livorno (hat tip to Luxury Launches). The car, an older-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom, had come from Russia and, inside the pearly white interior, it featured a full, two-tone leather interior – crocodile leather, no less.
According to the Agency’s post on social media, which you will also find at the bottom of the page, the car was brought in from Russia and was on it its way to a dealership in Rome, from where it would eventually be sold to an Italian customer. Everything from the seats, armrests and internal doors was covered in crocodile skin, and the car came without the authorization for it.
Crocodile is a protected species under the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which means that crocodile leather use is illegal without the proper authorization. You can’t just head to the swamp, hunt your own reptile, and turn it into a homemade Birkin handbag, if you want the simpler version.
Italy is included in the CITES act, and since authorization papers were not provided with the Phantom, authorities here have seized the vehicle. They are now considering stripping off the upholstery, in addition to heavy fines for everyone involved, but the matter will be settled in court. All those reptile dead, all that fuss and expenses – all for nothing.
Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency seized one such vehicle earlier this week, in the port of Livorno (hat tip to Luxury Launches). The car, an older-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom, had come from Russia and, inside the pearly white interior, it featured a full, two-tone leather interior – crocodile leather, no less.
According to the Agency’s post on social media, which you will also find at the bottom of the page, the car was brought in from Russia and was on it its way to a dealership in Rome, from where it would eventually be sold to an Italian customer. Everything from the seats, armrests and internal doors was covered in crocodile skin, and the car came without the authorization for it.
Crocodile is a protected species under the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which means that crocodile leather use is illegal without the proper authorization. You can’t just head to the swamp, hunt your own reptile, and turn it into a homemade Birkin handbag, if you want the simpler version.
Italy is included in the CITES act, and since authorization papers were not provided with the Phantom, authorities here have seized the vehicle. They are now considering stripping off the upholstery, in addition to heavy fines for everyone involved, but the matter will be settled in court. All those reptile dead, all that fuss and expenses – all for nothing.
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