We are operating on a very lean business model, which allows us to be agile and respond to consumer demand and feedback as fast as possible. We are able to scale our production as needed to satisfy consumer demand while minimising waste.

The need for protection of workers is as old as the textiles industry. However, more testing machines allow complete analyses of the material performance and could be done at the molecule scale. By the same, standards used to test the material performance are increasingly complex and standardised to better stick to real conditions.

High-performance functional clothing have diverse applications, of which sportswear and protective clothing are two main broad categories. For both segments, we see unprecedented rise in need and demand, due to various reasons.

New technologies on innovative materials will enable deliver more products with multiple functionalities. The international competition in the textile markets make the textile/fashion companies quickly design and manufacture new products. The requirements of consumers are becoming more and more diversified. All these issues drive advances in R&D.

We are looking forward to a trade show with concentrated expertise: around 900 international exhibitors at Munich Fabric Start, Bluezone and Keyhouse, including numerous new exhibitors… Even if times are uncertain—we are setting a framework that shows reliability, gives security, inspires and makes you want to explore Spring-Summer 2024.

We’re on the journey where we are still grasping what should be done, and what should not be done. A major lowdown was that you have to understand and hear your customers and see what they’re actually looking for. Talking to your customers helps you fathom what are the kind of products they are looking for. Their feedback is critical.

We can accommodate a greater demand. It is only a matter of organising our chain. We estimate that at least 6,000 families, that is about 25,000 to 30,000 people depend on the corozo value chain in Ecuador.

Our long-term vision is to move ahead together. We want to work not only in circular fashion but also gradually expand to circular economy.

Some are clearly leaders and are taking big risks, while others are much slower to engage. What has worsened is that some brands who are not genuinely invested in making change, are marketing to the consumer as if they are. This increased level of greenwashing only confuses consumers and creates a sense of mistrust, which ultimately affects the brands who are legitimately doing it right.

Scientific and technological developments bring in new materials, new manufacturing techniques, and new capabilities. Each of these, in turn, would have to be translated into newer products. That’s where design and innovation steps in, combining new materials and technologies with new societal demands, to create new products.

The Texcircle project group formed a cluster, in order to jointly meet the challenges we face for a circular textile economy. The project focused on shared materials/quantities and created prototypes to demonstrate the impact of secondary raw materials in products to show which processes need to be adapted for a circular economy.

The Texcircle project clarified that the existing value chains need to be rethought. Stakeholders will have to work together, and, to some extent, there will be a need to work outside the box. Both downstream and upstream, there will have to be some extension of in-house competencies at each step within the value chain to ensure a smooth transfer between stakeholders.

These are separate issues and should to be treated as such. Deforestation is wrong, and the leather industry wants to be part of the solution to end it. Full stop. However, leather’s status as a byproduct of food production is irrefutable and should be acknowledged in these conversations as well. There is not a farmer or rancher in the world that is raising cattle (or sheep, pigs, or any other livestock) for leather purposes.

The hide is undeniably a by-product, as acknowledged by the WWF, who state – "Leather is entirely a by-product of the beef and dairy industries.” On average, the hide represents only 1% of the animal, assuming it has any value at all; it is estimated that up to 40% of hides are simply thrown away.

Cows are raised for the meat and hides are a by-product. This is what I understand as a scientist; if somebody can prove me wrong with scientific data I will accept. I had the opportunity to visit the Amazon Forest several times. The cycle starts with the removal of the trees that by themselves have a high value, being enough reason for deforestation.

What is very clear is that the leather is secondary to the meat and diary so when we talk about deforestation in Brazil, targeting the leather industry is largely ineffective. A worst case scenario would be everyone abandons Brazil as a sourcing country for raw material, which has huge consequences for supply and demand in the rest of the world and therefore on the economics involved.

Livestock is not raised for leather and if not used for leather, the hides and skins are thrown away, which is waste on a huge scale of a natural material that could be turned into something useful for society. If we are serious about climate change it is the responsibility of everyone to understand the origins of ALL materials, not just leather, which cycles us back to the importance of clear product labelling.

It is important for the leather industry to assert and reassert the value of upcycling an inevitable by-product of the food sector, into a renewable, versatile material that, if not produced, would result in the waste of huge volumes of raw material and inevitably be replaced by plastic. COP provides a very visible, relevant and well understood opportunity to do that.

We are just starting to learn what sustainability is (and is not) and as we create more tools, measures and interpret data, we can accurately compare materials, usage, end of life and make better choices. We are still on trial and error in many aspects but for sure we will evolve and learn; this will be the time we will properly position the leather products against the competition.

The Leather Manifesto was a call to action not just for the COP27 delegates themselves, but for all interested parties in the space of sustainable materials production. We will continue to advocate for the core message of the industry not only in the context of the COP conferences, but in any forum that may be discussing sustainable material utilisation.