Leather

Sustainable Leather Foundation heads to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region this May to train and equip local representatives with required tools to drive forward improvements in the leather value chain.

European trade body COTANCE has formed the Leather Traceability Cluster to align leather traceability schemes in a bid to reduce audit fatigue in tanneries and avoid unproductive costs for the leather value chain.

The slowdown in consumer demand in Europe and the United States is set to impact the Indian leather apparel and accessories (comprising bags, belts, and harnesses) industry, with revenues predicted to decline 7–8% in fiscal 2024.

Each stakeholder in the leather industry, be it the tanner, trader, supplier or customer must get involved to get leather to a safe place in the mind of new younger consumers, and throughout the supply network involved. There are no impossible hurdles for a determined leather industry to make great strides quickly and set an achievable target date with milestones.

Blackwashed much, leather is standing up as a material which is irrefutably a by-product of food production and could well be a waste on a huge scale of a natural material which instead is turned into something useful for society.

The Leather Manifesto was a call to action not just for the COP27 delegates themselves, but for all in the space of sustainable materials production.  As a natural material that is long-lasting, can be repaired or repurposed and at end of life will biodegrade, leather needs to be part of wider discussions towards a circular economy. This industry will continue to push the point that it can be part of the climate solution.

As the leather industry grapples with the question of how it can sustainably play its part to meet ambitious climate and other targets set at a global scale, it is imperative that individual companies in the supply chain focus their efforts in a way that is highly localised to their specific circumstances.

Textile Exchange (TE) has accepted the official ISO 15115 definition of leather, and manufacturers, brands and retailers must make it incumbent on themselves to educate consumers the difference between genuine leather and faux leather, PU leather, mushroom leather, pineapple leather, or any other plant-based leather which cannot be categorised as 'leather'. So, what does industry think?

Inversa Leathers has launched the first ever collection made with invasive dragonfin leather in collaboration with Teton Leather Company.

With the intent to ensure that the cost of preserving forest is shared more equitably by the two ends of the supply chain and between majority and minority world countries, Textile Exchange and the Leather Working Group (LWG) are putting out a call to action for brands and retailers to commit to sourcing all their leather from verified deforestation-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier.