Leather

A new global study on the lifecycle assessment (LCA) of the modern cow leather industry has found that the farming stage (upstream) significantly contributes to the impact of five among six categories, and that that the values for several parameters were much lower than previously indicated.

The policy changes for the Indian leather sector as announced in the Indian Budget 2025-26 could well be a fantastic opportunity for innovation, growth, global market expansion even as some healthy competition awaits. An analysis.

A trade event that witnessed a happy industry was the 38th edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF) at Chennai from 1–3 February which was marked by trends that promise to propel the leather and footwear sector onto a sharper anvil. A report.

Nonprofit Leather Working Group (LWG) has come up with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study aimed at providing accurate and updated insights into the environmental impact of leather production, supporting stakeholders in reducing environmental footprints and making informed decisions.

The detrimental environmental impact of bovine leather has been reduced by a significant 60% on the just updated Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), Leather Working Group and Leather Naturally have announced.

If leather needs to counter the fiction of the activist brigades, it needs to tell stories. Better stories. After all, leather is not fashion; it is heritage. A texfash rant on the push against leather and why in this age of social media, of reels, of influencers, it needs to go hammer and tongs, and move with the times.

The problem of deforestation is extended to leather only by ‘proxy’. The entire industry—the world across—has just about a year in not only to put in place traceability systems that work and are cheap, but also to shed off the deforestation tag. texfash tries to unravel the threads.

Does Denmark’s tax on livestock carbon emissions, to run effective from 2030, make scientific sense? Will it help the environmental, human health or farming livelihoods? Will the move impact the leather industry outside of Denmark? texfash probes.

LiteHide is an innovative process that effectively eliminates the scourge of tanneries: the use of salt, which is a huge global land and waterway pollutant. Alexandra Pelka, Head of Europe and Business Development of Leatherteq Limited—the innovator of the technology—talks at length about leather, processes and technology.

Being “animal-free” isn’t the final nail in the coffin for the leather industry. It is a façade for brands to avoid misinformed brand erosion while profiting from cheaper materials across their supply chain. The industry must rewrite, reteach, and remarket actual facts as the leather narrative has been dramatically swayed by fake leather and oil companies.