WL-Feb-Mar-2025

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12 – 14 March 2025 Booth 3B-D01

News

2 News map News highlights from around the global leather industry.

5 Industry & Innovation New technology, new ideas from leather industry suppliers and service providers.

8 Leatherscene People from around the industry and famous lovers of leather who have made the headlines in recent weeks.

Leather Leaders

12 Technology transformation In the course of this conversation, the newly elected president of Assomac, Mauro Bergozza, explains in detail the technology challenge that machine manufacturers and tanners must embrace now.

Special Report

17 Growth trajectory for India India’s leather industry is preparing for strong growth, including the creation of 2.5 million new jobs in the next five years.

Technology

20 Silky finish Activated silk is at the core of new leather finishing technology from Evolved By Nature that is now in use in tanneries in Thailand.

22 Something in the air Controlling air distribution and keeping temperatures stable are the key properties of Air Breeze, a leather drying development from Cartigliano.

24 Careful watch AQC, the industry association for manufacturers of leather bracelets for luxury watches, is working to drive sustainability and innovation in an increasingly complex industry landscape.

26 Embossing efficiency The joint efforts of IM Innovating, Barnini and Stahl have resulted in a new system, Ascender, that promises consistent embossing across the entire surface of a hide.

29 Good wood Drum technology manufacturer Pajusco explains how traditional wooden drums have adapted to meet the requirements of modern tanneries.

Leather and the Circular Economy

32 Thought Leadership: Traceability triumph Tapestry believes it has found an effective way of tracing cattle all the way through the supply chain and moving the information into finished products.

37 Thought Leadership: Keep it clean Leather deserves to be part of a new initiative that the European Commission calls the Clean Industrial Deal, but it will have to be tireless in telling a positive story about itself.

40 Thought Leadership: Repair opportunities Brands that offer repair services will build better relationships with consumers, a new white paper from Circulo argues.

43 Circular Stories: Upstream relationships As the French agricultural landscape shifts, senior leather industry figure Christophe Dehard argues that stronger farm-food-leather relationships are now essential.

47 Circular Stories: The thrill of skill Automotive company Rolls-Royce Motor Cars continues to win widespread praise for its successful in-house apprenticeship programme.

51 Circular Stories: Recruitment drive A representative of the next generation of leaders in leathergoods production in Italy, Carlo Briccola, says the government must work with the industry to help it recruit young people.

Beast to Beauty

54 Open door at Puma Athletic footwear brand Puma has gone to considerable lengths to let young consumers learn more about the materials it uses, including leather.

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Cover image: The Coach ready-to-wear runway show at New York Fashion Week this February. This marks an important announcement from the brand’s parent group, Tapestry, on leather traceability.

CREDIT: TAPESTRY/ISIDORE MONTAG

The World of News

UK Plans to relocate Walsall Leather Museum from its current site have been abandoned after strong public opposition. Councillor Garry Perry, leader of Walsall Council, confirmed the decision recently, following widespread backlash and a budget consultation. The proposal, part of efforts to address a £29 million budget shortfall, aimed to secure the museum’s long-term future by moving it to a town centre location. However, it was met with significant resistance, with more than 6,000 people signing a petition against the move, and Walsall & Bloxwich MP Valerie Vaz joining a public protest march.

SPAIN The closure of Spanish leather manufacturer Tenerías Omega may not go ahead. Worker representatives have told local media in Navarra that two bids have emerged to buy the operation. Closure of the tannery, a specialist in making leather for transportation applications, was announced in September. The 79 people who were working at the company at that time were told their jobs would go. Of the two bids to take Tenerías Omega on as a going concern, one includes the retention of 44 jobs, the other guarantees a workforce of 40.

FRANCE Handmade shoe producer La Botte Gardiane has launched a platform for consumers to buy preowned pairs of its footwear. The company, based in the south of France, said it was proud to launch the initiative as part of its commitment to durability and respect for the environment. “Long-lasting products are not an abstract idea for us,” the company said. “It is something tangible. We invite our customers to consider our second-hand platform as a way of taking part in conscious and sustainable fashion by giving products a second life.”

DENMARK

Danish traceable leather supplier Spoor, part of Scan-Hide, has achieved Oeko-Tex Made in Green certification for its hides, marking a step toward greater transparency in the leather industry. The certification ensures that each hide can be traced from farm to finished product, allowing consumers to verify its origins and production process. The initiative builds on previous Oeko-Tex certifications for Spoor and Scan-Hide and introduces the first Made in Green pre-tanned leather label.

GERMANY Footwear brand Birkenstock has reported revenues of € 362 million for the first quarter of its current financial year, the three months ending December 31, 2024. It said this figure was an increase of 19% year on year. Revenues were up by 16% to € 210.7 million in the Americas, up by 17% to € 102.7 million in Europe, and up by 47% to € 47.1 million in Asia. Chief executive, Oliver Reichert, said Birkenstock its clogs, shoes and boots were in demand. He added that these products had proved popular as gift options over the Christmas season.

SERBIA European tanners’ association COTANCE joined representatives from 19 organisations at a recent meeting in Serbia to advance the Erasmus+ Blueprint AEQUALIS4TCLF project, which aims to upskill workers in the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries (TCLF). Universities, industry representatives and eduction providers from Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Serbia and Slovenia, gathered in Belgrade to agree on new plans. The project aims to develop EU and national TCLF skills strategies to address skills gaps, anticipate new companies’ needs, and ensure their long-term competitiveness. The consortium will also develop new curricula and training courses.

ITALY An exhibition celebrating the connections between Naples and the gloving industry ran in the city from January 22-February 21. The Banco di Napoli Foundation hosted the exhibition, which was called ‘Glove: paths and stories of the glove industry in Naples’. According to the organisers, the exhibition celebrated the traditions and craftsmanship of glove design and manufacture in the city. Displays included historic gloves, the tools traditionally used to produce gloves and a series of photographs..

JAPAN The Japan Leather and Leathergoods Industries Association (JLIA) has alerted its members to the possibility of help in working out how best to manage trade with the US. In the wake of a series of tariff announcements from the government in Washington DC, Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and industry and JETRO, its external trade promotions body, said they were setting up a specialist helpdesk to support Japanese companies. JLIA said companies, including small- and medium-sized enterprises, would be able to ask the helpdesk for information and advice if they find themselves affected by tariff measures. It said Japanese businesses that have set up operations in Mexico, China or Canada were among those most likely to feel the impact.

US Footwear group Caleres has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Stuart Weitzman brand from Tapestry. It said it will pay $105 million for the deal, “subject to customary adjustments”, and that the acquisition cements its “leadership position in women’s fashion footwear, particularly in the contemporary segment of the market”. Chief executive of Caleres, Jay Schmidt, said he had long admired Stuart Weitzman for the brand’s “pivotal role in shaping the footwear industry”. He said Caleres was committed to preserving its legacy of craftsmanship, quality and fit, “while driving it forward”

•The American Leather Chemists Association (ALCA) has issued a call for papers for its 119th Annual Convention, which will be held from May 13 to 16 this year at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Researchers and professionals are invited to present their work on topics relevant to the leather industry. Submissions are sought in areas including hide preservation, leather defects, leather manufacturing technology, new product development, tannery equipment innovation, leather properties and specifications, and environmental management.

PAKISTAN Pakistan’s first crocodile farm has been established at Bhambhore Farmhouse near Jacobabad to boost the leather industry and tourism, according to local media. The farm, housing ten imported crocodiles, aims to expand through breeding, with the reptiles maturing in about five years. The farm owner plans to develop a professional breeding facility to meet international standards and highlighted its economic potential which, if successful, could bolster the leather industry and open new doors for tourism. The initiative marks a step towards diversifying Pakistan’s economy and promoting sustainable farming.

CHINA Leathergoods brand Loewe has opened a new flagship store in Shanghai. Covering 650 square-metres over two floors, the new store, on the city’s West Nanjing Road, is the brand’s biggest in Asia. It has given the flagship store the nickname of The Golden Cube. Tiles imported from Spain adorn the exterior of the building, giving it a golden sheen. For the project, Loewe worked with Barcelona-based ceramic specialist Cumella to source more than 35,000 of the tiles.

BANGLADESH Bangladesh’s leather exports declined by 11.6% year-on-year in the first half of the current fiscal year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Revenue fell to $62.48 million from $70.72 million in the same period last year. Local media reported that a tannery firm in BSCIC Leather Industrial City, Hemayetpur, Savar, earned approximately $3.61 million from leather exports in the first six months of the previous fiscal year. However, its revenue fell by 48% to $1.9 million during the same period this fiscal year.

ARGENTINA Leather-industry organisations in Argentina have issued a joint statement to express concern about measures recently put into place by the government. Until now, Argentinean meat companies were under obligation to keep a proportion of domestic hides on home soil for use in the domestic leather value chain. The government has decided to lift that restriction, causing concern among leather-industry bodies that their member companies will lose out, and face a shortage of raw material. They said this would have a detrimental effect on a value chain that sustains thousands of jobs in Argentina.

COLOMBIA The forty-ninth edition of the International Footwear & Leather Show (IFLS) closed in Bogotá on February 7. On this occasion, there were 430 exhibitors, 41 of which were from outside Colombia. Across the four days of the show, just over 10,000 visitors attended. Organisers said these figures showed that IFLS is one of the most important event in the region for the leather and footwear industries. In 2023, there were more than 480 exhibitors, but visitor numbers were closer to 8,000.

Industry & Innovation

New Stahl centre

of

excellence opens in North Carolina

Chemicals group Stahl has opened a new centre of excellence facility in Apex, North Carolina. It said the new site would be “a key innovation hub” and would support customers in automotive, apparel, luxury goods, packaging, and home furnishings.

On site, the centre has application technology, testing facilities and pilot production capabilities and will provide what Stahl referred to as “a space where customers, original equipment manufacturers and brand partners can codevelop and refine advanced solutions, tailored to market needs”.

Science-Based fashion talks on sustainability trends

Lineapelle in partnership with consultancy Spin360 is once again hosting the Science-Based Fashion Talks during the Lineapelle exhibition in Milan (February 25-27).

The event will focus on key sustainability trends in the fashion industry, covering topics such as the role of natural materials in decarbonisation, durability and ecodesign, regenerative practices, sustainable leather sourcing, and the importance of data sharing and value chain collaboration.

Discussions will explore how renewable materials like cotton, wool, and silk contribute to sustainability, while also examining the role of durability and eco-design in setting new industry standards. The talks will cover key regulations such as the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), and how these will shape future industry practices. Regenerative practices and innovations in leather sourcing will also be highlighted, with an emphasis on deforestation-free supply chains and data sharing for improved traceability and transparency.

Leather Naturally releases new guide on leather LCA

Campaign group Leather Naturally has released a comprehensive guide to lifecycle assessments (LCAs) in the leather industry, providing valuable insights for stakeholders and consumers interested in the environmental impact of leather production. With a focus on cow leather, the guide draws on industry research to offer data-driven analysis and practical applications.

LCAs assess a product’s environmental footprint across its entire lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to disposal. This

Leather traceability standard endorsed

Industry representative body COTANCE has announced that the Leather Traceability Cluster (LTC) has officially endorsed a new set of traceability requirements.

Developed in collaboration with ICEC, the Sustainable Leather Foundation, Oeko-Tex, and the Leather Working Group, this endorsement marks a significant step towards increased transparency and accountability across the leather supply chain.

The newly adopted draft standard outlines common traceability requirements and verification elements, providing a framework for industry-wide certification. Following a formal vote conducted under the LTC terms of reference, the members of the cluster have approved the standard for progression through the fast-track CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) standardisation process.

Since its establishment in 2022, the LTC has convened 24 meetings, fostering collaboration among stakeholders to align on minimum requirements for traceability and verification. This ongoing cooperation is expected to contribute to a stronger and more sustainable leather industry.

This milestone highlights the industry’s collective effort to implement robust certification processes and ensure compliance with best practices in traceability.

approach helps companies evaluate sustainability at every stage and align with increasing regulatory requirements.

A key outcome highlighted in the guide is the updated Higg Index dataset, developed in collaboration with the Leather Working Group (LWG). The new data indicates that the environmental impact of bovine leather is 55% to 67% lower than previously reported, with Global Warming Potential reduced by 60%.

Educational opportunities in Cincinnati

The Leather Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati will, once again, host a series of educational opportunities in 2025.

It will run its two-day leather orientation course twice, first on April 9 and 10, and then again on September 17 and 18. This course covers the physical structure of leather, species identification, hide supply, wet-end and finishing operations, regulations, testing and customer acceptance issues.

The cost is $1,100 per person with a discounted price of $1,000 for additional participants from the same company. In the summer, the Leather Research Laboratory will run a course on how to make wet blue from raw hides. This will involve classroom and hands-on training, and will run from July 14-18 at a cost of $2,500 per person.

Call for papers for UITIC 2025 World Congress

The International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians (UITIC) has launched a call for papers for its twenty-second World Congress, which will take place in Shanghai August 31- September 3.

UITIC said the event will bring together footwear industry professionals from around the world to discuss the challenges facing the footwear industry. The 2025 congress will have competitiveness and sustainability in the era of artificial intelligence as its main theme.

It has invited researchers, academics, and industry professionals to submit ideas

Leather Traceability Cluster members after a meeting in Milan last year.

Industry & Innovation

for papers on this theme and on a wide range of topics related to footwear manufacturing, technology and sustainability. Interested parties have until April 11 to submit an abstract.

Prospective speakers will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their ideas on May 9.

President of UITIC, Sergio Dulio, said: “The future of footwear lies at the intersection of AI-driven innovation and sustainable practices. This conference will explore how companies can leverage both to thrive in a rapidly evolving market and shape a more sustainable future for the industry.”

Next-generation leather launched by Elmo

Swedish leather manufacturer Elmo has introduced Elmoorganic, a new range of automotive leather designed with enhanced sustainability in mind.

The leather is made using bio-based tanning methods, incorporating a byproduct from the food industry as a tanning agent. This results in a material that combines natural character and aesthetics, with a “touch that improves with age”.

The Elmoorganic range is part of Elmo’s broader efforts to reduce the environmental impact of leather production. This next generation, biobased ‘Zero Waste Leather’ technology reduces chemical and water consumption during manufacturing, and lowers emissions to water by more than 70% compared to traditional chrome-free leathers. Additionally, Elmoorganic is free from aldehydes and metals, making it a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional leather.

This new range aims to address the increasing demand for more sustainable options in the automotive industry without compromising on quality or luxury.

Oeko-Tex publishes Eco Passport findings

The Oeko-Tex association has published the latest findings from its Eco Passport laboratory tests, identifying key substances in leather, textiles and chemical products that frequently exceed safety thresholds. The results highlight the presence of potentially harmful chemicals, reinforcing the need for stringent industry regulations and safer manufacturing practices.

The analysis focused on five primary substances: aniline, chlorinated benzenes and toluenes, formaldehyde, siloxanes, and quinoline. These chemicals, widely used in textile production, present environmental and health risks if not properly managed.

FILK keynote announced alongside renewed call for papers

The 13th Freiberg Leather Days will be held on May 21 and 22, 2025, at the ‘Tivoli’ concert hall and ballroom in Freiberg, Germany. Professor Peter Heck, from the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS) at Trier University of Applied Sciences, will deliver the keynote speech on ‘Livestock as a Value-Adding Component in Regional Material Flow Management.’

Organisers are currently accepting submissions for presentations from industry professionals, researchers, and innovators in the fields of tanning, leather technology, and related industries. The event offers an excellent opportunity to share new ideas, research, and applications with an engaged audience of industry peers.

Electric car plans continue at Bentley’s new centre of excellence

Automotive company Bentley Motors has opened a new centre of excellence at its headquarters in Crewe in north-west England.

It said the new facility will be pivotal to its preparations for launching its first batterypowered electric vehicle, which it hopes to do next year.

The new facility houses a “production proving ground” and mini assembly line and will help Bentley carry out intensive tests on the new vehicle, which it describes as “the world’s first urban luxury sports utility vehicle”.

It also includes a technical centre for future materials testing, high-precision dimensional measurement, vehicle analysis and reliability.

Commenting on the developments, head of manufacturing at Bentley, Andreas Lehe, said the new centre represented “a significant step forward in transforming our historic Crewe site into a world-leading hub for sustainable luxury automotive production”.

IULTCS issues call for papers

The International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS) has opened its call for abstracts for the XXXVIII IULTCS Congress, scheduled to take place in Lyon, France, from September 8 to 11, 2025.

Researchers and industry professionals are invited to submit abstracts on topics including leather science, tanning innovations, sustainability, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2025.

The congress aims to bring together

experts from around the world to discuss advancements and challenges in the leather industry. Participants will have the opportunity to present their work, exchange knowledge, and contribute to the sector’s development.

For more information and submission guidelines, prospective speakers and attendees are encouraged to visit the official congress website.

SLTC conference to take place in Scotland

The 2025 annual Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists (SLTC) conference and dinner dance will take place in Glasgow on April 25-26.

The programme includes a guided tour of Scottish Leather Group’s facilities on April 25 from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Attendance for the tour is limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The conference on April 26 will run from 9:30am to 5:30pm and will feature presentations from Erretre, NTE, Scottish Leather Group, and De Montfort University. The Atkin Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Dr Kerry Senior.

LHCA secures deal with China

The Leather and Hide Council of America (LCHA) has announced “successful negotiations” in terms of a new noinspection programme by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC).

The Council worked with USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to negotiate all US facilities as registered in coordination with implementation, preserving the market for 60% of US exports.

It said: “LHCA’s international negotiating position has been strengthened by the relationships we have established with our overseas counterparts. We worked closely with the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and Dressers of the European Community (COTANCE), we are a leading member of the International Council of Tanners (ICT), and we have also partnered with the Brazilian, Chinese, Italian and UK associations.”

However, it did note the “possibility of increased regulation on exports to Europe and China” in light of President Trump’s 10% tariffs on Chinese imports.

Solar energy project complete at Korangi cluster

Senior figures from Pakistan’s dedicated ministry for managing climate change officiated at the official switch-on of a solar energy project at the Korangi tanning cluster, near Karachi, in mid-January.

Leather leadership, worldwide.

Leather is a global business. More than 95% of US hides are exported, with value added across the globe. A strong leather industry benefits us all.

Our International Sustainability Programme drives best practice raising global production standards.

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And our data-driven Life Cycle Assessment ensures leather is the most transparently studied natural material, countering misinformation from oil-derived ‘rivals’.

We work for the leather industry. Find out more at usleather.org

Leather scene

Major Turkish group ends inhouse leather production

One of Turkey’s best known tanning groups, Sepiciler, has taken the decision to stop producing its own leather. Instead, the group will source leather from partner tanneries to continue to supply customers.

A producer of vegetable-tanned, chrometanned and soling leather until now, Sepiciler had operated tanneries since 1930. It won the Tannery of the Year award for Europe in 2013.

In the last decade, it established its own solar energy plant close to its facility in Torbali, near Izmir. It also set up a new company to increase business in the US market and moved its wet-end processing to a new facility at the leather cluster in Bursa.

Sepiciler was also one of the first leather manufacturers to embrace Silvateam’s Ecotan range of technologies and Biocircular concept.

Chief executive of the family-run group, Mehmet Sepici , told World Leather : “We are exiting production but we will continue to serve our customers as a leather supplier, using our technical know-how and experience to select the best leathers for them from carefully selected tanneries worldwide.”

He said the family’s decision had been unanimous, but also tough and painful. He added: “Being a tanner is our family tradition, and has been for generations.”

Upheaval at Gucci

Luxury group Kering has announced that its biggest brand, Gucci, has cut its ties to creative director, Sabato De Sarno, who took up the role in January 2023.

It appears this change is with immediate effect because Kering said Gucci’s autumn-winter 2025-2026 fashion show in Milan will go ahead as planned on February 25, but will now be “presented by the Gucci design studio”.

It has no immediate replacement lined up; the group said it would announce a new “artistic direction” for Gucci in due course.

On making the announcement, chief executive of the brand, Stefano Cantino, expressed “deep gratitude” to Sabato De Sarno for his “passion and dedication”, adding that the designer’s commitment had been “a homage to “Gucci’s craftsmanship and heritage”.

Marc Smit to deliver ALCA John Arthur Wilson Memorial Lecture

The American Leather Chemists Association (ALCA) has announced CEO of Royal Smit & Zoon, Marc Smit, as the presenter of the 64th John Arthur

Wilson Memorial Lecture at the 119th ALCA Annual Convention.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, May 14 at 9:00 am, during the convention at Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania, from May 13-16.

Marc Smit, a seventh-generation leader of Royal Smit & Zoon, has overseen the company’s focus on sustainable practices and innovation in leather chemical manufacturing.

The annual convention provides a platform for professionals in the leather industry to discuss advancements and developments in leather chemistry.

Gobbetti out after revenue dip at Ferragamo

The board of directors at Italian leathergoods company Salvatore Ferragamo have "mutually terminated" CEO Marco Gobbetti’s contract after an 8% dip in full-year revenue to €1 billion.

Chairman Leonardo Ferragamo said: “I would like to thank Marco Gobbetti, who in recent years has set up and developed a significant brand renewal and evolution activity, as well as significant product innovation and brand positioning, while also carrying out important work on the organisational evolution of the company and the group, which is the basis for continuing the renewal strategy.”

In an earlier statement, Mr Gobbetti had

Actor signs up with Berluti for France-Italy dialogue

Film, television and theatre actor Victor Belmondo has signed up to work on a new collection with Berluti. The collection comprises clothing, including a calfskin leather blouson jacket, bags, and shoes.

The brand said it shared with Victor Belmondo a dual French-Italian heritage, bringing together the histories, traditions and savoir-faire of each culture.

A shoemaker from Le Marche, Alessandro Berluti, founded the brand in Paris in 1895. Victor Belmondo is from a famous French acting family with Italian roots, while his mother, a television chef, is originally from Rome.

“Victor Belmondo personifies the Berluti spirit,” said the brand’s chief executive, Jean-Marc Mansvelt, “that fusion of heritage and modernity, elegance and audacity.”

For his part, Victor Belmondo said helping to write Berluti’s next chapter was like a shared dialogue between France and Italy.

commented that 2024 was challenging, but that the brand’s new products and redesign had been successful.

He said: “Our focus on enhancing digital channel performances, through replatforming and effective marketing campaigns, has led to a steady positive trend of this business in Q4, driven by both traffic and sales quality. We are pleased with the foundations we have built and, whilst we remain conscious of the persisting complex market context, we are encouraged by the trends we identified at the end of the year.”

Until a new CEO is appointed, an advisory committee, composed of James Ferragamo, Ernesto Greco and Michele Norsa, will work on “moving to a new phase in the renewal process and strengthening the fundamental link with the brand’s heritage”.

Itech Lyon students inspired by COTANCE lecture

Students at Itech Lyon recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture by secretary general of COTANCE, Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano, who spoke to an audience of about 75 aspiring professionals.

The session explored lifecycle assessments (LCAs) of leather, its durability, and the Green Deal Leather initiative, providing insights into the challenges and ambitions of the European leather industry.

Leather scene

Mr Gonzalez-Quijano highlighted leather’s essential role in the circular economy, describing it as a natural, sustainable, and beautiful material with growing demand. He also emphasised the diverse career opportunities within the industry, from production and design to research, environmental management, and innovation.

Capri promotes for top brand role

Fashion group Capri Holdings, owner of Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors, has promoted Philippa Newman to chief brand and product officer.

Ms Newman has been with Michael Kors for over 16 years, most recently serving as the chief product officer.

CEO John Idol said: “Ms Newman is an exceptional leader with deep brand expertise and a strategic mindset. By bringing product and marketing under one cohesive leadership structure, we are creating greater synergy across our business, enabling a clear and consistent brand vision, and strengthening our ability to connect with consumers globally.”

At the start of February, Capri reported revenues of $3.4 billion for the first nine months of its current financial year, a decline of 13.7% compared with the same period last year.

Turin event shows leather industry’s progress on workplace safety

Europe’s main representative body for the leather industry, COTANCE, worked with trade union organisation industriAll Europe at the end of January to run a workshop on safety in the workplace.

It took place with financial support from the European Commission, with the training centre that the International Labour Organisation has in Turin as the venue.

COTANCE presented the findings of a recently completed study on accidents in the workplace. It said the study provided key baseline statistics, established industry benchmarks, and showcased best practices from European tanneries for improving health and safety standards in the industry.

The study showed a 16% decline in tannery-related accidents across seven countries (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Hungary, and Austria) between 2019 and 2021. More than 90% of the accidents that were recorded were classified as ‘minor’.

After the event, COTANCE said it was proud to lead the conversation on safety in the workplace, to share EU best practice, and “to work shoulder-to-shoulder with all relevant stakeholders to create a better future for the leather industry worldwide”.

Furniture industry bids farewell to Rolf Benz

Thefounder of one of Germany’s most famous furniture groups, Rolf Benz, has died. He was 91.

Mr Benz founded his own-name company in Nagold, near to the Black Forest in south-west Germany, in 1964.

In 1994, Rolf Benz took over another well known furniture group, Walter Knoll. When Rolf Benz’s family announced his death on January 29, Walter Knoll said in a statement that Mr Benz had set new standards in the world of furniture.

“He knew how to combine design, comfort and functionality in a unique way and shaped a new era of living with his innovative upholstered furniture.”

It added that the Rolf Benz brand had become synonymous with high-quality, German-made, leather furniture.

No turning back for Burberry Forward

Atrading update from Burberry puts the company’s revenues of £659 million for the third quarter of the current financial year. This represents a fall of 7% compared to the same period last year.

Chief executive, Joshua Schulman, said the company was at an early stage of a transformation he outlined in 2024, a programme called Burberry Forward. He said there had been “an improvement in brand desirability and strength in outerwear in scarves”.

He explained that this had reinforced his belief that Burberry has “the most opportunity where we have the most authenticity”. He said at the end of 2024 that, while leathergoods would continue to be an important category for the brand, this would not be “where we lead”.

Mulberry’s finance director steps down

British luxury brand Mulberry has begun the search for a finance director after the resignation of Charles Anderson

He left the board on 31 January but will remain supporting the business until 1 August.

Chris Roberts, chairman of Mulberry, said: “I would like to thank Charles for his valuable contribution to the group over the past five years. His leadership, particularly over the last year, has been instrumental in steering the business through a very challenging period.”

Last autumn, Mulberry turned down an offer from Frasers Group to buy all its shares. Frasers first invested in Mulberry in 2020 and owns 37% of the company Garment

move

Colombian group Cueros Vélez has announced that it will start to make and sell leather garments through its network of stores in the domestic market.

The company, which is preparing to celebrate its fortieth anniversary next year, is best known for footwear and bags, has said it will add trousers, skirts, shirts and jackets to its range.

Marketing director, Juliana Quintero, recently told business media in Colombia that the company wanted to offer its customers the chance to wear Vélez from head to toe.

Lapi Group reports loss of one of its leaders

Santa Croce-based leather industry group Lapi has announced the death of one of its leaders, Guido Lapi. Son of one of the founders of the group, Guido Lapi was 77 years old when he died on January 16.

The diverse group encompasses leather chemicals suppliers FGL International, Finikem and Toscolapi, as well as the Gi-Elle-Emme tannery, Lapi Gelatine and Npa Mosè.

Bursaries for leather craftspeople

Heritage

Crafts, with support from the Leathersellers’ Foundation and the British Leather Industry Development Trust, is offering bursaries of up to £4,000 for new and early-career leather craftspeople facing financial hardship.

The bursaries aim to remove financial barriers and make the heritage crafts sector more inclusive. Eligible applicants include those starting a leather craft career, refining essential skills, or acquiring new techniques.

Leather Leaders: Mauro Bergozza

LINEAPELLE

Data-driven in the digital age

The chief executive of tanning technology developer Bergi, Mauro Bergozza, was elected president of industry association Assomac at the end of 2024. He says member companies must embrace a technological transformation, based on digitalisation, automation and data analysis.

You said on taking up the presidency of Assomac that, in addition to innovation and sustainability, you also wanted ‘technological identity’ to be a priority. What do you mean by ‘technological identity’ and why do you believe it is important?

Technological identity means the set of skills, know-how and innovative solutions that characterise an industrial sector. It is these characteristics that make a particular sector recognisable and competitive at a global level. In Assomac’s case, technological identity represents the heritage of knowledge and innovation, developed over time by its member companies, that distinguishes those member companies in the international panorama of technology for manufacturing footwear, leathergoods and tanning. Assomac has obtained recognition as a ‘collective brand’. This means member companies can market their products under the shared Assomac label. This guarantees quality standards, compliance with regulations and product controls. Moreover,

this identity enhances Made in Italy, which has always stood out in the leather world. It encourages innovation, stimulating companies to invest in research and development. It supports sustainability by encouraging manufacturers to adopt advanced technologies that will reduce environmental impact, improve production efficiency and promote unique solutions in the market.

You have spoken of the importance of Made In Italy many times in the past, and of products being beautiful and well made as part of that. What do you say when potential customers complain that this means a higher price and say that they are satisfied with less expensive technology options?

When potential customers raise the question of the higher price of Made in Italy products, the most effective answer is to emphasise the added value these products offer compared to cheaper alternatives. They offer quality and

Leather produced in Italy on display at Lineapelle. Mauro Bergozza insists that Italian manufacturing excellence is an added value.

CREDIT:

“ Continuing to manufacture in Italy is not only possible, but is the best choice for the country’s future.”

durability, for example. A beautiful and well made product is not just aesthetic. It is also built with quality materials and advanced technology, ensuring a longer life-span. In the long run, a higher initial investment can translate into a lower cost than less durable products can offer. I have machines made in the 1990s that are still working without any problem. Of course they do not have the same technology as we can offer today, but the customer would say that those machines have paid for themselves handsomely.

What are the other aspects of the added value Italianmade machinery can offer?

There is also innovation and technology. Made in Italy is not only about design, but also about technological innovation applied to production processes, leading to more efficient solutions such as traceability and remote assistance. I would also point to sustainability. Italian production respects strict environmental and social standards. Opting for Italian products means supporting an ethical and sustainable supply chain, an element increasingly demanded by customers and consumers. Then there is customer brand value. What I mean is this: those who choose Made in Italy can communicate to their customers a commitment to quality and excellence. This not only justifies a higher price but can become a competitive advantage for the buyer. In short, higher price is not just a cost, but an investment in quality, innovation and sustainability, aspects that discerning customers recognise and appreciate in the long run.

You have spoken of the need to evolve the technology offering of Assomac member companies to make data the central focus rather than mechanics (a change from offering machines to offering data-centres). You have drawn parallels with recent changes in the automotive industry. What must Assomac member companies do in practice to put this evolution into effect?

To achieve this evolution and move from offering traditional machines to offering data-driven machines, Assomac member companies must undertake a technological transformation. This must be based on digitalisation, automation and data analysis. There are concrete steps they can take. They can integrate sensors into machines, equipping them with smart sensors to collect real-time data on performance, wear and tear, and energy consumption. They can use the Internet of Things (IoT) to connect machines to each other and enable continuous remote monitoring. They can create software that collects, analyses and interprets data and use that to improve efficiency and predictive maintenance. That software could also offer customers intuitive dashboards to monitor productivity, waste and consumption. They can use the collected data to optimise energy consumption and reduce environmental impact.

Data-driven in the digital age

We hear much talk about artificial intelligence (AI) these days. What part can AI play in the transformation you are describing for Assomac members?

AI and machine learning are certainly part of this. Assomac member companies can exploit AI and machine learning algorithms to optimise production processes, reduce waste and improve final product quality. They can use predictive maintenance systems that anticipate breakdowns and reduce downtime. They have an extremely good opportunity to offer not only machinery, but also digital solutions and consulting services to optimise customers’ production by analysing data and comparing it to other realities. They can provide customers with detailed reports on production efficiency and sustainability. They can also train staff and collaborate with the IT sector. Investing in training for engineers and technicians will allow organisations to develop new digital skills, create partnerships with software and AI companies and accelerate the development of innovative solutions. This change follows the model of the automotive industry, where there is a shift from selling cars to providing connected, intelligent systems. For Assomac companies, this evolution is crucial to remaining competitive in an increasingly data-driven and digitally efficient market.

For most of this century, relatively easy global trade has been the norm and manufacturers, big and small, have been able to find customers in all parts of the world. At the start of 2025, the picture seems very different. If, as seems unavoidable, there are important changes in the way global trade works, what will this mean for Assomac member companies and for their customers?

Should global trade undergo significant changes, Assomac member companies and their customers will have to adapt to a new scenario characterised by increased complexity and possible restrictions. Assomac members will

Newly elected president of Assomac, Mauro Bergozza. CREDIT: ASSOMAC

have to rethink strategies, supply chains and business models and face a more uncertain and fragmented future. Innovation, digitisation, sustainability and flexibility will be the keys to remaining competitive in an evolving global trade environment. A viable alternative would be to join forces and create larger and stronger groups of companies, combining experience, design and commercial skills, reducing costs and becoming more competitive.

Assomac needs the manufacturers that make up its customer base to keep producing leather, shoes, handbags, furniture, automotive interiors and so on. In many of the most developed economies, there seems to be an increasing conviction that the process of manufacturing these materials and products is too expensive, too slow and has too big an impact on the environment. Italy seems to be an exception. What can you do, as president of Assomac, to make sure Italy continues to be an exception, to keep convincing politicians, business owners and new generations of workers in Italy that making products, rather than just trying to import everything, is worthwhile?

We must promote the idea that Italian manufacturing excellence is an added value, and that local production can be more sustainable, efficient and more carefully controlled than imported production. We can use data to show that advanced technologies, automation and digitisation can reduce costs and time, keeping production in Italy competitive. We can work with government and other institutions to obtain tax incentives, concessions and investment in innovation for Italian manufacturing companies. We recently asked for concrete help from the ministry that has responsibility for business and for Made in Italy. We asked for assistance for small

and micro companies in the leather sector that are in difficulty. We have to support policies that favour domestic production and discourage dependence on suppliers from overseas. We can push for regulations that promote the circular economy, making production more sustainable and less subject to environmental restrictions. We can encourage our members to develop more efficient, digital and environmentally friendly technologies to make Italian production more competitive in the global market. We can promote the adoption of data-driven business models, such as the use of connected machinery, and push towards the creation of a sustainable manufacturing supply chain, capable of responding to the needs of international markets.

What needs to happen in the wider public arena?

We need to continue our work with schools and universities to train young technicians and engineers, showing them how digitisation, automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the industry. There is also the need to create communication campaigns to show successful examples of Italian entrepreneurs who have innovated and kept production in the country. Organising trade fairs, events and international collaborations to showcase Italian technology is something we have been doing for years and this, too, must continue. All of this will help strengthen the Made in Italy brand as a synonym for quality, innovation and sustainability. Italy can only continue to be an exception if manufacturing, innovation and sustainability are integrated in a clear strategy, supported by institutions, entrepreneurs and workers. Assomac has the task of leading this transformation, demonstrating that continuing to manufacture in Italy is not only possible, but is the best choice for the country’s future.

An example of advanced technology: the Nabukka buffing line from Bergi.

CREDIT: WTP

QUAKER COLOR A STEP AHEAD IN AUTOMOTIVE FINISHING

Supplying innovative finishes to the automotive industry for over six decades

Quaker Color is a division of McAdoo & Allen, with roots in the leather industry for over a century

IILF targets big numbers

The Indian leather and footwear industry claims to be on a strong growth trajectory. The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) continues to assert previous claims that the sector will reach a turnover of $47.1 billion by 2029-30, with $33.4 billion from the domestic market and $13.7 billion from exports. This would represent a notable increase from the $23.69 billion turnover recorded in 2023-24. The industry also expects to create an additional 2.5 million jobs in the next five years, on top of the current workforce of 4.42 million.

Export growth is emphasised as a key focus. According to CLE’s Regional Chairman (South), M. Abdul Wahab, after a decline in early 2024, the sector reportedly rebounded with a 2.6% growth between April and December 2024, this on the back of a 6% decline the previous year. Exports are projected to reach $5 billion in 2024-25, up from $4.69 billion in the previous year, with growth seen in markets such as the USA, UK, Netherlands, and Vietnam. While these numbers are positive, it remains to be seen whether the industry will reach its $13.7 billion export target by 2029-30.

The CLE has certainly been active in promoting exports, with participation in 18 international events between April and December 2024 under the Market Access Initiative Scheme (MAIS). Another six events were planned between January and March this year, including the Delhi International Leather Expo (DILEX) in February, which will feature over 200 exhibitors and 225 overseas buyers. It’s clear that the CLE is putting effort into expanding its reach, but the true impact of these initiatives is yet to be fully realised.

Government backing continues to play a role in the sector’s development. The Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) is overseeing the Indian Footwear & Leather Development Programme (IFLDP), a five-year initiative with a budget of approximately $195 million, running from 2021 to 2026. The programme focuses on infrastructure, technology upgrades, and manufacturing expansion, with major projects including new Mega Leather, Footwear, and Accessories clusters in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Several CETPs are also being upgraded. While these initiatives are promising, the industry will need to demonstrate sustained progress to justify the investment.

Investment opportunities in India’s leather and footwear sector are gaining momentum. CLE has actively engaged with international markets, sending delegations to China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Russia to attract foreign investment and establish joint ventures. This growing global interest has the potential to boost India's export capacity and

The newly constructed exhibition halls of the Chennai Trade Centre. CREDIT: WTP

strengthen its supply chain, though its full impact will depend on how effectively these partnerships materialise.

In Tamil Nadu, the leather and footwear industry has already attracted approximately $1.5 billion in investment, the result of partnerships with global brands including Puma, adidas, and New Balance. Government initiatives look likely to further bolster this growth, notably through the reinstatement of import duty exemptions on leather products and the removal of import duties on wet blue and crust leathers in the Union Budget for 2025-26. If effectively implemented, these measures could boost value-added exports and strengthen the domestic industry.

Moreover, the Union Budget has allocated approximately $750 million to support industry expansion. According to CLE Chairman Rajendra Kumar Jalan, this funding will be used to enhance the tannery environment, with a particular focus on improvements in northern India.

Inspired by Tamil Nadu's success, similar initiatives will be pursued in other regions with the necessary land and workforce for investment. With India’s young population –under 30 years of age on average – geopolitical stability, and strong government support, the outlook for the Indian leather industry is currently more optimistic than that in Europe.

New year, new halls

No overview of the show would be complete without mentioning the new convention centre – an impressive addition to the exhibition complex in Nandambakkam, Chennai. This multi-storey building boosts the total hall space by 20%, increasing it to 20,000 square metres. In addition to the original convention centre halls, it now offers permanent exhibition spaces for all exhibitors, replacing the temporary marquees that were previously used. While the ground floor has already been fully booked, the upper floors – currently nearing completion –could provide an additional 2,000–3,000 square metres for the 2026 edition.

Lt Col Harsh Kondilya of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) underscores the organisation’s strong commitment to expanding both the scale and prestige of the event. ITPO aims to position IILF alongside globally recognised trade fairs such as Lineapelle in Milan and APLF in Hong Kong. With upgraded facilities now able to accommodate additional elements such as seminars, alongside the established designer fair and annual fashion show, the organisers are clearly moving in the right direction. Assessing the feasibility of this ambition is challenging. Physically, the show is certainly on par with APLF, and the CLE and ITPO are eager to gather greater input from international visitors, enhancing the event with additional seminars and talks inspired by successful initiatives elsewhere. In terms of heritage, both fairs had modest beginnings – APLF started in a car park, while IILF began as an outdoor event “under the trees.” The show is undoubtedly progressing in a positive direction, and with evident enthusiasm to push further, its growth remains well within reach.

Talk of the trade

Footfall at the IILF has consistently outpaced most other leather trade shows. While this is unsurprising given the optimism from the organisers, assessing the quality of

visitors from a casual, on-the-ground perspective remains challenging.

As expected, the show followed its usual pattern – two busy days followed by a quieter third. Most exhibitors were happy to engage in discussions and shared a generally positive outlook on the region’s prospects.

For many international visitors, however, the backdrop remains less optimistic. Reports from the last major event, Lineapelle/Tanning Tech in September, indicated a 30% downturn in the Italian industry. Against this, the positive atmosphere at IILF was seen as a welcome contrast.

Speaking with several hide traders, a sense of tangible optimism emerged. While lower-weight hides – though not necessarily lower in quality – have traditionally found a market in Santa Croce, much of this business now appears to have shifted to India. Surprisingly, demand has remained strong, particularly for exports from continental Europe, and traders reported that prices achieved were not only stable but slightly higher.

This shift has largely been attributed to lower manufacturing costs. However, with the recent removal of the wet blue import tax, its impact on the market moving forward should also prove positive.

One trader, returning to the show after many years, observed that the current situation in India reminded him of China two decades ago. The positive changes he noticed were significant enough for him to consider taking a stand at the next edition. Having visited several tanneries ahead of the show, he was impressed with the progress he saw and believed that India could follow a similar trajectory to China’s rapid advancements over the past 20 years, with tangible progress becoming more evident in the near future.

From the perspective of leather chemicals, a positive outlook was again presented. Price sensitivity is clearly a significant factor, with many manufacturers strategically located near local markets. It appears to be common practice for some to use local formulations specifically designed to hit a price point for the domestic market, where the majority of the product is directed, while a smaller proportion is made up of imported "foreign" produced products. While innovation, sustainability, and other environmental metrics are considered essential in more developed leather manufacturing regions, with cost as an additional consideration, it seems that in the IILF halls, price remains the primary factor.

What lies ahead

A stable government, financial support, and a young, capable population providing a viable workforce would be an ideal combination if centred in mainland Europe. The ambitious goals of India’s leather and footwear leaders may currently seem aspirational, but as the saying goes, "If you miss your target, aim higher". While India has long been seen as a manufacturing hub, the next step seems to be positioning itself as a centre for design and production, meeting domestic demand and then focusing on exports as a supplementary goal. India has benefitted from “opportunistic” circumstances, such as the impact of covid and, more recently, the potential trade wars with the US and other trade partners. Despite these challenges, the overall outlook from India and the IILF remains optimistic, with the message being: watch this space.

New alliance aims to make leather production more sustainable

Authentic Thai Leather (ATL), a newly established coalition of six prominent Thai tanneries, is aiming to transform the global leather industry with a focus on innovation and sustainability. By producing high-volume leather on demand, ATL seeks to elevate the leather supply chain. Central to their strategy is a partnership with Evolved by Nature, whose Activated Silk L1 bio-finishing system brings a sustainable edge to leather finishing.

Founded in 2013 by Dr. Gregory Altman and Dr. Rebecca Lacouture, Evolved by Nature (EBN) emerged from a background in biotechnology and biomedical engineering. Their initial work led to the development of a silk-based medical implant, which was later acquired by Allergan. This success inspired the cofounders to explore silk in its liquid form, resulting in their Activated Silk technology. This innovation is designed to replace petroleum-derived and hazardous chemicals across industries such as skincare, textiles, and leather. EBN’s mission is to promote sustainable alternatives that advance global health. The company’s early focus on biomedical applications provided critical insights into silk’s natural properties, such as its biocompatibility, strength, and ability to create protective barriers. These qualities became the foundation for their later work in other industries, including leather.

A sustainable leather finishing solution

Activated Silk L1 emerged from EBN’s vision to bridge performance, health, and sustainability. Originally successful in skincare for improving skin barrier function, the company adapted the technology to leather finishing. It offers an environmentally friendly alternative aimed to enhance leather’s natural qualities without toxic chemicals. Traditional leather finishing often relies on petrochemical treatments that compromise breathability, flexibility, and appearance. Additionally, tannery workers may be exposed to potentially harmful substances like PFAS (per- and

polyfluoroalkyl substances), which have been linked to various health risks, including cancer. The activated silk system eliminates PFAS and uses a biodegradable water-and-alcohol system, reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and

contributes to 14 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The system can improve key leather characteristics, including durability, water resistance, flexibility, and breathability with superior performance compared to traditional finishes in

Activated Silk: Unlocking fibroin, the primary structural protein in silk, produced by silkworms and certain other insects, responsible for silk’s strength, durability, and lightweight properties.

CREDIT: EVOLVED BY NATURE

Veslic, Bally flex, and vapour transfer tests, without relying on stiffening cross-linkers. Activated silk also enhances stain resistance, contributing to the leather’s longevity. Additionally, the developers state that it helps maintain the natural texture and appearance of leather, avoiding the artificial coating often associated with petrochemical finishes.

Environmental benefits and industry adoption

As the group explains, the elimination of PFAS and reduced polyurethane use are critical environmental advantages of the system. PFAS are long-lasting chemicals that persist in water systems, soil, and the human body, posing significant health risks. By avoiding these substances, the environmental impact of leather production can be significantly reduced.

The technology’s carbon-reductive process further minimises the environmental footprint, producing leather with a breathable, natural finish. A scalable solution, derived from renewable silk, ensures there are no production capacity limitations. The partnership with ATL illustrates how this innovation can be integrated into supply chains to meet global market demands for sustainable, high-performance leather.

Additionally, by helping tanneries reduce waste and reliance on synthetic materials, and transitioning to biobased finishes, the leather industry can lower its dependency on non-renewable resources and reduce the volume of chemical-laden wastewater typically generated during production.

The

future of leather production

The leather industry is undergoing notable changes driven by a focus on efficiency and sustainability. Alliances such as ATL demonstrate a shift towards collaboration and innovation, prioritising waste reduction, environmental impact mitigation, and improved product quality. According to EBN, efficiency is expected to play a pivotal role in achieving both environmental and financial sustainability.

Industry leaders are recognising that sustainable practices can be both environmentally necessary and economically beneficial. With stricter regulations and rising consumer demand for eco-friendly products, companies that adopt sustainable innovations may gain a competitive advantage.

EBN has outlined plans to maximise the use of natural materials in leather production, streamline manufacturing processes, and enhance leather performance. The company is committed to ongoing innovation to improve product quality, scalability, and environmental outcomes.

Research and development efforts are expanding the applications of activated silk technology. In addition to leather, there is potential for silk-based bio-finishes to be introduced in industries such as apparel and automotive interiors to reduce reliance on synthetic materials.

Using its Activated Silk L1 system and industry partnerships, it aims to help make leather production more sustainable and high performance. In collaboration with ATL, the company is working to help advance leather production through innovative technology and a focus on sustainability.

The stand-alone, modular Air Breeze system delivers precise control and efficiency for leather conditioning and drying, adaptable to both large and small-scale operations.

CREDIT: CARTIGLIANO

Leather

drying is more than a breeze

The Cartigliano “Air Breeze” is a leather conditioning and drying system designed for leather producers of all sizes. It provides precise control over critical parameters such as temperature, humidity, and airflow, which are essential for processing a wide range of leather types, including complex and delicate leathers. By functioning as both a drying and conditioning unit, the system aims to produce consistent results while offering flexibility in leather production processes.

One of the primary challenges in leather drying is conditioning the leather naturally to ensure consistency in the final results while maintaining low energy consumption and minimising environmental impact. The Air Breeze aims to address these challenges through high-efficiency performance and control over the working environment, independent of external conditions. Traditional methods may struggle with consistency due to variations in ambient temperature and humidity, but this development is engineered to overcome these external factors.

Dual zone drying for delicate leathers

The system includes a ‘bi-zone’ drying process designed to minimise the risk of damage to delicate or complex leather types. This process allows for distinct

working parameters in each of the two zones. The initial phase focuses on evaporating a larger amount of water from the leather, while the following phase removes the remaining moisture from the innermost layers. Parameters such as temperature and humidity can be adjusted independently for each zone, ensuring gradual and optimised drying that reduces the likelihood of over-drying, cracking, or other damage to the leather’s surface.

Technical Specifications AB 6 AB 12

Dimensions - L x W x H (mm)

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Environmental benefits and energy efficiency

Offering environmental benefits compared to conventional drying systems, it is a closed and stand-alone system positioned on the ground, which eliminates the overhead movement of heavy leather loads above operators. Traditional systems often direct and distribute airflows inefficiently, heating only certain uninsulated areas, leading to energy wastage. In contrast, the Air Breeze directs airflows more efficiently to enhance operational performance and reduce energy consumption. The system can also be powered by Cartigliano’s POREG (POwer-REGenerator) unit, which is designed to optimise leather drying and conditioning processes. The POREG integrates with systems like vacuum dryers and treated air injection conditioners (TAIC), providing hot and cold water independently. This design eliminates the need for separate boilers, chillers, and cooling towers, reducing both energy consumption and operational complexity. The system is engineered to maintain a consistent cold-water temperature of 10°C throughout the year, ensuring stable drying and conditioning parameters regardless of external temperature fluctuations. Additionally, the POREG supports low-temperature conditioning and can utilise various heating sources, including thermal waste, renewable energy, and co-generator recovery, providing a more sustainable approach to leather processing.

Versatility for various applications

Particularly suited for retanning processes that use lowenvironmental-impact formulations, the Air Breeze is designed to accommodate various leather types, including vegetablebased and semi-vegetable-based tannings and retannings that require low operating temperatures and natural conditioning systems. By avoiding forced processing cycles, the system helps preserve the natural characteristics of the leather, resulting in high-quality finishes that are more uniform and durable. Additionally, the manufacturers also claim its versatility makes it suitable for industries such as automotive and high-end fashion, where consistent quality and environmental considerations are critical.

Modular design for scalability

The system has a processing capacity of up to 120 whole hides per hour, making it applicable for medium-scale and larger industrial operations. Its modular design accommodates various production requirements. Systems with five to seven modules are configured for small-scale production, while configurations with seven to twelve modules are intended for industrial-scale operations. A single-module configuration is also available for laboratory operations and sample testing. System sizing is determined based on water evaporation requirements to align with the specific production setup. This modular design provides scalability, enabling adjustments to production capacity as operational demands evolve.

The compact design of the Air Breeze reduces the floor area required compared to other low-temperature drying technologies. Airflow is managed through two integrated air treatment units, which deliver uniform distribution across the leather. The system’s performance is said to remain consistent throughout the year, even under varying environmental conditions, ensuring reliable and high-quality results. By maintaining uniform air distribution and temperature stability, the system helps ensure that each batch of leather is processed to the same level of quality.

A panel discussion offered valuable insights into the industry's efforts to align with the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CREDIT: AQC

AQC – advancing a responsible leather bracelet supply chain

The Association pour l'Assurance Qualité des Fabricants de Bracelets Cuir (AQC), an international Swiss-based association founded in 2014, represents approximately 80% of the global production of leather bracelets for luxury watches. Its founding members – Brasport, Camille Fournet, Interstrap, Hirsch, and Multicuirs – aim to ensure the highest levels of safety and responsibility within the leather bracelet supply chain. The association promotes transparency and collaboration among all stakeholders to achieve this goal.

At the end of last year, AQC convened key representatives from the leather and watch industries, alongside international organisations, for its annual Multistakeholder Meeting in Geneva. The event facilitated indepth discussions on critical topics, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments, chemical compliance, traceability, credibility, certifications, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

AQC has been advancing LCA+, an initiative aimed at evaluating both the negative and positive impacts of leather bracelet production. This approach aligns with the industry's growing responsibility to quantify its overall footprint in the production of watch straps. Discussions also covered topics such as biodegradability, end-of-life considerations, and circular economy principles, highlighting the industry's efforts towards sustainability.

Industry collaboration and scientific contributions

AQC invited leading organisations in the leather sector to share expertise and recent developments. Representatives from COTANCE, UNIC, LWG, ICEC, SLF, the FILK Institute, and Authenticae provided insights into industry-wide strategies for meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

One of the most pressing challenges remains chemical compliance. Experts from CheMi (EU Platform for Chemicals Using Manufacturing Industries), ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals), and AQC presented findings on key regulatory issues, including PFAS and bisphenols, which are subjects of ongoing scientific research and regulatory scrutiny.

AQC maintains a neutral stance on industry standards,

advocating for harmonisation to prevent duplication and inefficiencies. The meeting also included representatives from alligator farming who presented insights into responsible sourcing, including updates from the International Crocodilian Farmers Association (ICFA) and the Standard for Responsible Crocodilian Production (SRCP/LVMH). These initiatives aim to ensure ethical and sustainable farming practices.

Science-based sustainability and regulatory developments

Scientific contributions played a significant role in the discussions. Alligator Intelligence (AI) presented research on the ecological benefits of American alligator populations in Louisiana wetlands, demonstrating the species’ role in climate change mitigation. The sustainable management of these ecosystems has contributed to the species' successful conservation, with 97% of exotic leathers used by AQC members sourced from American alligators.

Representatives from the Watch and Jewellery Initiative 2030 (WJI 2030) and the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH discussed sustainability within the watch industry, the evolving value proposition of responsible sourcing, and regulatory developments in chemical compliance.

International organisations contributed additional perspectives, with the United Nations Global Compact providing insights into corporate sustainability frameworks and UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) outlining methodologies for assessing the overall footprint of leather products.

Key takeaways and future initiatives

The meeting concluded with a session focused on field research and industry collaboration, leveraging the expertise of stakeholders across the supply chain. Key areas identified for future projects include “responsible alligator skin use” and the development of “the lowest impact leather bracelet”. AQC has committed to launching new multistakeholder initiatives in response to these discussions.

The high level of engagement and participation reinforced the association’s expanding influence within the leather and watch industries. The next AQC Multistakeholder Meeting is scheduled for November 20, 2025, in Geneva.

Over the past 10 years, AQC has conducted 77 industry events, including Multistakeholder Meetings, Watch Brands Working Groups, Tanners Working Groups, Laboratory Working Groups, LCA+ Working Groups, customised training sessions, and PODs (webinars).

Leveraging this expertise, AQC provides a comprehensive suite of chemical compliance services, encompassing regulatory support, biocompatibility monitoring, substance compliance guidance, and Quick Test Chrome (VI), a rapid in-house testing solution that detects chromium VI in just three hours.

As the industry landscape grows increasingly complex, transparency, science-based decision-making, and collaborative problem-solving remain central to AQC’s mission. The association continues to expand participation opportunities, fostering cooperation across the entire supply chain to drive sustainability and innovation in the leather bracelet industry.

COLOURS BY LANGRO

The Ascender system’s modular and compact design provides flexibility for tanneries, allowing it to function either as a stand-alone unit or as part of existing production lines

ALL CREDITS: IM|INNOVATING

Advancing leather finishing with Ascender technology

The Ascender leather finishing system, developed through a collaboration between im|innovating, Barnini, and Stahl, represents a significant advance in leather processing technology. This integrated system, born from the concept of printing on leather with a fresh basecoat and using protective foil, combines specialised machinery and advanced chemical formulations to help improve leather quality, enhance production efficiency, and promote sustainability within the leather industry.

Leather finishing technology has recently seen increased use of release paper systems. With the introduction of the Ascender, manufacturers have made it clear that this system marks a significant departure from previous methods, aligning more closely with conventional finishing concepts. Unlike release paper systems, which predetermine the print design, the Ascender is said to offer greater flexibility. While release paper systems can produce multiple grain patterns, their variety remains limited. In these systems, chemicals — such as the top and base coats — are applied to the paper and dried before being transferred to the leather. However, because the entire width of the release paper must be coated, regardless of the leather's size, this method leads to higher chemical consumption.

Designed around two operational zones, a melting zone and a moulding zone, the basecoat is applied to the leather through either rollercoating or airless/air-assisted spraying. After a brief drying period, the basecoat remains fresh and tacky, allowing it to fill surface defects during the melting phase. A thin, recyclable PET-based protective foil is used to prevent contamination of the melting and embossing cylinders. This pattern-free foil not only protects the machinery but also serves as a transport carrier for the leather as it moves between pressure groups.

The system’s modular and compact design provides flexibility for tanneries, allowing it to function either as a stand-alone unit or as part of existing production lines. It is available in three working widths: 1800 mm, 2600 mm, and 3200 mm and therefore capable of handling a range of

materials from side leathers to full hides, including those used in automotive applications.

With multiple cylinder storage, it is compatible with cylinders from conventional embossing systems, providing tanners with the option to use existing patterns or choose new designs. This versatility supports more varied and customisable production options.

New workflows and tailored formulations

From a technical perspective, the system aims to provide consistent embossing across the entire surface of a hide, including more challenging areas such as bellies, achieving uniform depth and definition. This can help improve the appearance of leather and reduce visible defects in lowerquality hides. By minimising the need for fillers and auxiliaries, the developers claim it allows tanneries to produce finished products of higher value from less optimal

raw materials. Additionally, reducing the amount of auxiliaries in the basecoat improves binder performance and enhances resistance in the finished leather.

In adopting the Ascender system, the manufacturing partners say it introduces new workflows. Traditional methods use higher drying temperatures (120°C or more) and high-pressure embossing. The Ascender operates at lower temperatures (70-80°C) and lower pressures, producing softer leather. Moisture control is also critical, as the finishing layer’s humidity must be managed based on factors such as leather type, absorption, and after softness therefore proper machine settings should be established under production conditions to optimise results.

In terms of operational efficiency and sustainability, the system streamlines the finishing process by reducing the number of energy-intensive steps from five or six to three or four. This reduction leads to significant savings in time and production costs. The machine also operates at lower temperatures and uses less embossing pressure, conserving energy. Estimated energy savings range from 30% to 40%, contributing to lower CO2 emissions and a smaller environmental footprint.

Developed with tailored chemical solutions for both automotive and non-automotive leather applications, options range from nappa-type basecoats for softness to more filling basecoats for better print retention, particularly in belly areas, which improves cutting yield. In some cases, pre-base applications can be eliminated, reducing chemical usage, energy consumption, and labour costs when integrated into production lines. Formulated by Stahl, these chemicals are solvent-free, amine-free, and low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), meeting the stringent requirements of ZDHC MRSL, Version 3.1, Level 3, and ensuring compliance with industry sustainability standards. Although the machine can operate without these specialised formulations, using them is said to maximise product quality and consistency.

By offering flexibility in production and minimising the use of chemicals and auxiliaries, the system addresses both economic and environmental challenges in the leather industry. While the system’s claims focus on improved leather quality, reduced production costs, and increased sustainability, its effectiveness ultimately depends on the specific operational context and integration with existing production lines.

Compatible with conventional embossing cylinders, tanners can use existing patterns or choose new designs for greater customisation.

Nick Winters Hides & Skins division is a leading supplier of quality European Hides & Skins with a rigorous selection process since 1992.

With operations in France, Ireland, Italy and the UK, we service the most demanding tanneries worldwide.

We are part of the Bigard group, one of the largest meat companies in Europe, processing 26,000 cattle, 120,000 pigs, 20,000 lambs and 4,500 veals weekly.

We also own the largest wetblue tannery in France. CET can process up to 500 tonnes of raw hides per week.

BELLIES ● WETBLUE AND WETWHITE HIDES

Banging the drum for sustainability

Sustainability in the leather industry has largely focused on raw materials, chemical processes, and improving energy and chemical efficiency. Within tannery operations, one often overlooked aspect of sustainability is the process vessels – specifically, the drums. While drum technology has advanced over time, certain aspects remain unchanged. Wood has long been the predominant choice for tannery drums, but polypropylene alternatives have increasingly gained traction. Nevertheless, a significant portion of the industry still relies on traditional wooden drums.

Wooden drums remain essential in the tanning process, supporting most key stages such as unhairing, tanning and dyeing. They must endure and survive substantial weight, continuous rotation, and exposure to harsh chemicals, making material selection and preparation crucial for their durability and performance.

Pajusco Technology, based in Montebello Vicentino, manufactures various items of equipment for the tanning industry, including wooden drums. The company is recognised for producing durable and reliable machinery tailored to leather production requirements.

CEO Olimpio Storti tells World Leather that Pajusco Technology places particular emphasis on wood selection for its drums. Historically, iroko, a yellow wood, was used, but production shifted approximately 20 years ago due to changes in soaking and liming chemistries and the adoption of lower float systems. Today, azobe, a red wood, is the primary material for Pajusco’s drums, while tali, a yellow wood, is occasionally used for smaller drums. Azobe is noted for its strength, durability, and resistance to wear, making it one of the strongest materials available for drum manufacturing. Its

higher cost reflects these premium characteristics, making it well-suited for industrial applications.

The preparation of azobe wood involves a natural seasoning process that lasts between 18 months and 2.5 years, subjecting the wood to natural elements such as water, sun, wind, and snow to ensure gradual maturation. Periodic inspections with specialised instruments determine when the wood is ready for production. Only wood that meets specific maturity and quality standards is used.

Long lifespan

With their acknowledged durability, wooden drums in the tanning industry often have lifespans exceeding 30 years. Their design allows for repurposing; drums can be reassigned to less demanding tasks within the same tannery or transferred to another for continued use. Over time, the internal surfaces of wooden drums become smoother through regular use, which can enhance their performance. Wooden drums are also repairable, offering a practical advantage over some alternatives. Individual timbers can be replaced, and damage, such as holes, can be patched to

Careful selection and seasoning of specific hard woods is vital to the longevity and sustainability of wooden tannery drums.

CREDIT: PAJUSCO TECNOLOGIE SRL

extend their usability. Additionally, these drums can be assembled on-site, making them suitable for tanneries with limited space.

Despite these benefits, wooden drums have certain limitations. They tend to absorb chemicals during processes such as dyeing, which can necessitate thorough cleaning to prevent cross-contamination. This cleaning requirement may slow operations in colouring departments. Furthermore, the trend towards larger-capacity drums to increase efficiency has resulted in heavier machinery with a larger footprint, posing potential challenges for installation and operation.

The "Obelix" model by Pajusco represents a modern example of wooden drum innovation and claims to be the largest wooden drum in the world. Measuring five metres in both diameter and width, it has a maximum capacity of 34 tonnes when processing fresh hides with a 100% float during the liming process. Far from being a basic wooden drum, this model can incorporate advanced technology, including load cells for precise weight measurement, Wi-Fi-enabled limit switches for door operation, temperature sensors with vibration monitoring for safety, and an oil temperature monitoring system in the reducer to optimise performance.

These developments illustrate how wooden drums have adapted to meet the requirements of modern tanneries. By integrating traditional durability with technological advancements, they continue to serve as reliable and effective tools in leather processing.

Good plastic

The limitations of wooden drums played a significant role in the development of polypropylene drums as a modern alternative. In the early 1990s, Italian technology provider, Italprogetti, became the first manufacturer to introduce polypropylene drums, modernising the industry with a material that addressed challenges traditional options such as wood and stainless steel could not effectively overcome. This innovation paved the way for polypropylene drums to gain widespread popularity among tanneries, offering improved production quality and enhanced environmental sustainability.

A key advantage of polypropylene drums is their ease of cleaning. Their non-porous surface reduces the risk of crosscontamination between processes, while intermediate and final washing stages require significantly less water than traditional wooden drums, supporting water conservation efforts. Additionally, the smooth surfaces and rounded edges inside the drum help protect leather quality by minimising grain damage, even when processing with short floats.

Another significant benefit is the improved control of float temperature. Polypropylene offers better thermal insulation than traditional materials, allowing for more precise temperature regulation. Some models feature a “doubleskinned” design with an internal heating medium – typically heated water or oil – which enhances energy efficiency and improves chemical penetration for more effective processing. These drums are also resistant to a wide range of chemicals, making them suitable for all tanning methods, including chrome, chrome-free, and vegetable tanning.

Polypropylene drums also provide increased internal volume compared to wooden drums. The reduced material thickness allows for a volume increase of 10% to 18%, depending on drum size, while maintaining the same external dimensions, effectively enhancing load capacity.

Advances in plastic welding has allowed the widespread use of single piece drum bodies to be used and repaired, advancing the efficiency and sustainability of drum technology. CREDIT: ITALPROGETTI

Advances in plastic welding enable straightforward repairs to damaged polypropylene drums, similar to patch repairs on wooden drums. However, unlike wooden drums, which must remain wet to stay swollen and watertight (much like a barrel), polypropylene drums are inherently watertight. That said, they are slightly more vulnerable to damage from impacts, such as accidental knocks from forklift handling.

Another significant drawback of plastic drums is their need to be delivered as a complete unit. This requirement can pose challenges in terms of space and logistics, making their placement and transportation more limited.

The evolution of drum technology reflects the broader shift towards sustainability in the leather industry. While wooden drums continue to offer durability and repairability, polypropylene alternatives address efficiency, water conservation, and chemical management. Both materials contribute to sustainability in different ways – wood through its longevity and adaptability, and polypropylene through its resource efficiency and process control.

As tanneries seek to balance tradition with innovation, the development of process vessels will remain an important factor in improving environmental performance. Advances in materials and technology will likely continue to refine the balance between durability, efficiency, and sustainability, ensuring that drum technology supports the industry’s ongoing commitment to responsible manufacturing.

Approximate drum volume comparison

• Turn-key systems for leather cutting

• Powerful nesting for maximum material yield

• Highest level of productivity

• Individually configurable

www.zund.com

Leather and the circular economy

Credit: WTP/Flaticon

Where things come from

Leathergoods and footwear group Tapestry is hoping to mark a key milestone in addressing deforestation in the leather value chain. It wants its efforts to establish a traceability approach to be of help to the entire sector and to contribute to industry standards. It believes its work may even help the leather industry resolve the challenges it faces in meeting the demands of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The heated discussion about EUDR may have gone quiet since the authorities in the European Union agreed to delay its implementation by one year, but it has not gone away. The regulation will now come into force for large companies on December 30, this year, and for smaller companies, on June 30, 2026. European operators offering hides, skins, semifinished and finished leather to customers (inside or outside the EU) are going to have to be able to show that their material has no link to land where recent deforestation has taken place. Tapestry, the parent group of Coach, Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade, may be in a position to help.

“We think we have come up with a standardised approach for tracing cattle all the way through the supply chain,” says Earl Shank, senior manager for traceability at the group, “and for moving this information into finished products. We have been piloting this, using a draft standard and are now encouraging partners to come on board to help us refine the draft standard and build on it. We think there is enough here on traceability and on chain-of-custody for this to be an answer to EUDR.”

Detailed work on traceability that Tapestry has been carrying out since 2019 could help companies in different parts of the supply chain respond to regulatory requirements, including EUDR.

Original targets

Tapestry set key environmental responsibility targets in 2019, setting out where it wanted to be by 2025. Its original commitments included one to increase its sourcing of leather from tanneries with a gold or silver rating from multistakeholder body the Leather Working Group (LWG) from 63% of the total to 90%. Now, 97% of the tanneries it works with have a gold or silver rating, and more than 99% of its leather suppliers have been audited by LWG.It also said it wanted to reduce water consumption across the group by 10% between 2019 and 2025. “Traceability was part of this too,” vice-president for advanced technological development at the group, David Wright, recalls. “We had worked with research organisation BLC-Eurofins to set up mapping of our leather, as well as of fabric and hardware. We knew Brazil was

Use of leather aids the battle against marine pollution, also part of the SDGs

The leather industry opens up pathways into the circular economy for companies of all sizes, including many thousands of small and medium enterprises

Leather content fulfils finished product manufacturers’ desire to use recycled material

Finished products made from leather will meet criteria for green tax relief and for green procurement exercises

“We think there is enough here on traceability and on chain-of-custody for this to be an answer to EUDR.”

EARL SHANK, TAPESTRY

going to be a hotspot for leather, so we decided to try mapping some of our product orders back to farms there.”

In just one month, this exercise flagged up connections to 54,000 farms and a total of 270,000 transactions. From this, the complexity of the problem was immediately obvious. It has taken years of work, but now a solution is in sight, with data at the heart of it.

In Mr Shank’s view, any solution that can help companies navigate EUDR or similar traceability hurdles has to take “an interoperable approach to data”. This means the data must be accessible across a wide range of platforms. He confirms that capturing data for farm-level information is especially important and confides that the way some sustainability certification programmes claim to include this information is inadequate. “I don’t think mapping is realistically applicable either,” he adds, “given our experiences.”

What the group has done is to use traceability and chainof-custody tools from specialist platform TrusTrace to identify more accurate data and make it available for use throughout the supply chain.

Committee stage

At no point has Tapestry set out to plough a lone furrow on traceability. Its current commitments include involvement in a dedicated LWG chain-of-custody group, in a brand advisory traceability working group at non-profit Textile Exchange, and in a traceability best practice working group at industry representative body the American Apparel & Footwear Association. It has also been a participant in discussions on this topic that the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has convened, and is joining a series of footwear and apparel traceability summits that Syracuse University and the University of Oregon begun hosting. It also supported a traceability initiative at The Fashion Pact, an organisation that luxury, fashion and textile companies set up in 2019 to try to protect climate, biodiversity and the oceans of the world.

“Tapestry is fully onboard with any solution from anyone that solves the leather industry’s challenges,” Earl Shank says. “There are a lot of initiatives out there trying to find solutions. We are fully aligned with the intention of finding an EUDR solution from any source. We will be happy to link up, share and hand over our learnings to support any industry standard approach.”

Technology-driven improvement

Earl Shank joined Tapestry in 2021. Two passages earlier in his career helped him prepare for the work he is doing now. Early on, he worked at Patagonia, the outdoor brand that began to talk about tracing the down in its jackets, for example, more than 10 years ago. He later moved to Washington DC to work for the Fair Labor Association, a non-profit organisation that gathers data on working conditions in factories around the world and campaigns to make them better.

Where things come from

A coat and bag from a recent Coach collection. Parent group Tapestry has come up with a standardised approach for tracing cattle through the supply chain and for moving this information into finished products. Credit: pestry/Gianluca Palma

In both of these jobs he worked on supply chain mapping and on environmental, social and corporate governance, exploring the role that technology can play in driving improvement. Fundamental to this, he says, is understanding where things come from and it is in this that he sees the greatest parallel with what Tapestry is trying to achieve today. He insists the accessory and footwear group was already “at the cutting edge” when it brought him on board to focus on this work.

It ends in tiers

Its traceability analysis is part of a strategy it calls ‘Tier Three Plus’. This is based on the idea of tracing the flow of its raw materials and products further upstream to tier three at least, but to go beyond tier three when there is a practical reason, such as deforestation, to justify doing so. As for any company working with large volumes of leather (it calculates that up to

A cattle ranch in Brazil. Tapestry’s early attempts at tracing product orders back to the farm level flagged up immediately how complex the leather supply chain can be.

Credit: Tapestry

55% of all its raw materials, by weight, come from the leather supply chain) this is not always straightforward.

Broadly, tier-one suppliers for Tapestry are the partners that operate finished-product factories, finished assembly or cutand-sew operations. Tier two is its category for suppliers of finished raw materials. This includes tanners that provide finished leather, either from raw hides or semi-processed hides, as well as fabric mills or manufacturers of the hardware it uses in its bags. Tier three is for suppliers that carry out intermediate stages of processing, including tanners that take hides through wet-end processing. This leaves the ‘plus’ part of the strategy.

For hardware, tier four would be the point of extraction of the metal. For leather, it is less straightforward. Tier four can be the abattoir that makes the hide available, or it can go beyond that as far as the farm, or farms, involved in raising the animal the hide came from.

Help on the road

This brings us back to the particular challenges the leather value chain can present. Here, a demand for traceability back to farm level is likely to lead to questions about exactly which farm. Sometimes, it can be tricky even finding out how many farms are involved, owing to the number of times an animal can move in the months between birth and arrival at a feedlot or abattoir. But having glimpsed, during its first attempts at mapping, just how complex this can be, the group made a conscious decision to continue to address traceability and deforestation rather than walk away. “It was a question of staying and trying to help rather than pulling out and, perhaps, making the situation worse,” David Wright says. Help came when philanthropic organisation the Tapestry Foundation launched in 2021, funded by an endowment of tens of $50 million. Its mission included supporting stewardship, sustainability and climate-change initiatives and it quickly put its money where its mouth was. In 2022, it announced a four-year grant of a reported $3 million to help World Wildlife Fund (WWF) develop systems to enhance traceability of the leather value chain in Brazil. This threestranded project included elements aimed at restoring land

that had been deforested, others aimed at improving empowerment of the communities whose lives have been affected by deforestation, and still others aimed, as we have seen, at developing a standard for deforestation-free leather. This is the multi-layered context from which the group’s traceability solution has now emerged.

“As this shows, Tapestry takes materials exceedingly seriously and has done for a long time,” David Wright says. “I know because I worked at leather manufacturers that supply the group before I came to work here. It has strong relationships with its suppliers, and it has people in its own teams who know all of the materials it uses really well. I remember being impressed, years ago, by buyers from Coach who had good suggestions for how the leather manufacturer I was working for could, for example, continue to supply summer-quality hides in winter.”

Widest possible use

When it published its most recent corporate sustainability report covering fiscal year 2024, the document included progress to date on tracing the whole range of materials it uses. The list includes synthetic textiles, cotton, manmade cellulosic fibres, hardware and, of course, leather. “We were sitting at 74% of material by weight mapped at that point,” Earl Shank explains. “The numbers do not suggest that traceability for leather is any more difficult than for the other materials, back to tier three and even to the abattoir. In fact, tanneries were the first group of partners that we invited to work with us on the TrusTrace platform. However, going further upstream and managing that data effectively is where the industry has to get to.”

Using the TrusTrace tools, the group had large volumes of supply chain data in its possession by the start of 2025. Its work to find out everything it can about where things come from continues, but it believes the time has come to put the data to the best and widest use possible.

Note: This is the second in a series of World Leather articles covering Tapestry’s circularity initiatives.

NTE Mimosa is the world’s best selling vegetable tannin. Produced from sustainablysourced, community grown black wattle in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, NTE Mimosa has been behind the world’s finest natural leather since 1920.

From the bark of the acacia

mearnsii

tree to the world’s most beautiful leather

Clean manufacturing will confirm the EU as an attractive location for manufacturing and new circular business models.

Credit: International leather goods fair, Offenbach

Clean and green

Following elections in 2024, the European Union began 2025 with a new team of commissioners to lead its executive arm. The new faces around the table have a new programme to pursue. This includes the Competitiveness Compass, a roadmap of policies aimed at making the European Union (EU) more competitive on the global stage.

Over the last two decades, the Commission has said, Europe has not kept pace with other major economies owing to “a persistent gap in productivity growth”. But it insists that the 27-state EU has what it takes to reverse this trend with its “talented and educated workforce and unique social infrastructure”. It accepts that it is necessary to act urgently to tackle the barriers and structural weaknesses that hold it back. It wants Europe to become the place where clean products are invented, manufactured and brought to market, all while becoming climate neutral.

Urgent actions outlined in the Competitiveness Compass include a new ‘Clean Industrial Deal’, which is launching now, in the first quarter of 2025. Something else that will launch this quarter is a ‘Union of Skills’. Further along, there will be a new Circular Economy Act for the EU, a joint purchasing programme for critical raw materials, a

A new initiative that the European Commission calls its Clean Industrial Deal should strengthen the leather sector’s claims that it deserves to remain part of the manufacturing panorama.

dedicated package for the chemicals sector and a waterresilience strategy. Leather manufacturers may not be topof-mind for EU commissioners when they talk about these ideas, but tanners and finished leather product companies can make themselves part of all these stories.

New dynamism

In statements so far, the Commission has presented the Clean Industrial Deal as a means of creating “a new dynamism for Europe’s industrial structure”, leading, it hopes, to new,

“We cannot compete without manufacturing capacity or a reliable supply of raw materials.”

TERESA RIBERA, EUROPEAN COMMISSION

clean trade and investment partnerships. These will build on the trade agreements the EU already has in place with more than 70 countries and territories.

What the Union of Skills will seek to deliver is the reskilling and upskilling of workers in Europe, especially to help them adapt to digitalisation and new technology, including artificial intelligence. This is in an effort to make sure there continue to be “quality jobs” in the manufacturing sector in Europe. It insists that the entire initiative is aimed at confirming the EU as an attractive location for manufacturing and new, circular business models.

Economic imperative

The leading voice for the Clean Industrial Deal and for what the European Commission is calling “a clean, just and competitive transition” will be one of its vice-presidents, Teresa Ribera. She makes it clear that industry has a fundamental role to play in bringing this transition about. “We cannot compete without manufacturing capacity or a reliable supply of raw materials,” Ms Ribera says. “We will remain competitive if we close the innovation gap. If we are to succeed in closing this gap, a consistent development of circular-economy practices and efficient use of existing resources are important.”

She acknowledges that one of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers in Europe is higher costs than the ones competitors in other parts of the world face. “Competing in global markets is challenging when basic inputs like energy or raw materials, essential to every aspect of our economy, are significantly more expensive,” she says. This February, Reuters reported that European industries face energy prices that are up to three times higher than the prices their competitors in the US, for example, have to pay.

Ms Ribera goes on to make clear that, in addition to finding the best possible way to source new raw materials, using existing raw materials efficiently must also be part of the Clean Industrial Deal. She implies that there should be no need for a debate about this as it is a good way to promote circularity. “There may be people who take this as an environmental imperative,” she adds, “but in fact it is mainly an economic one.”

Antwerp answered

A year ago, the leather industry’s main representative body in the European Union, COTANCE, was one of the organisations that signed an official document, the Antwerp Declaration, calling for the European Union to set up a new industrial deal for Europe, to work in parallel with the 2020 European Green Deal. Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has already made it clear this year that the European Union will “stay the course on the Green Deal objectives, without any question”.

The Antwerp Declaration calls on the European Commission to commit to making sure industrial production

Commission vice-president Teresa Ribera will lead the push towards the Clean Industrial Deal. Credit: The European Commission

will remain part of its broader strategy. This includes a call to increase raw materials security in the EU and to boost demand for circular products. COTANCE says it was proud to align itself with more than 200 business organisations in supporting the declaration. It describes this as a way of reaffirming its dedication to “a more competitive, innovative and greener landscape for the leather industry, and for European manufacturing as a whole”. From the new Clean Industrial Deal, it seems the European Commission may have listened and taken this call on board.

Some commentators outside the leather industry will assume that recovering hides and skins from meat and milk companies and turning them into beautiful, longlasting, versatile, high-performance, value-adding, circular materials cannot be part of a clean transition or of a clean manufacturing future. We know this assumption is incorrect. What could undermine more egregiously the call to use existing raw materials well than allowing millions of EU hides to go to waste rather than to tanners? We also know it is essential to keep repeating the message that any new industrial strategy in the EU can, and should, include old industries, too, provided they can claim with justification that they are clean and green.

Fix up, look sharp

Growing consumer acceptance of repairs presents a significant opportunity for businesses, “but only if brands actively participate in the repair journey”.

Credit: Shutterstock

Fashion brands must find new ways to strengthen customer relationships while meeting growing environmental expectations, and one of the keys to this is to offer repair services, according to a white paper published by software platform Circulo. In ‘Repair as a sustainability cornerstone: Building business value through product care’, the authors cite a UK Fashion and Textile Association study that shows while 61% of executives believe their customers are more loyal than before the pandemic, only 20% of consumers agree. These figures, they say, show that businesses need to find ways to build those bonds, and connecting customers with repairers in a seamless fashion is a first step.

“When we talk about customer relationships, the conversation often centres on marketing and sales,” says Circulo co-founder Emily Rae. “But here's a striking reality: brands are missing crucial touch-points when customers seek repairs elsewhere, losing both the emotional connection and valuable data that could improve future products.”

Circulo was launched using the knowledge the founders, Ms Rae and Vanessa Jacobs, built in their previous business, The Restory, which connected repairers to brands and customers in the UK. They used “high levels of customer service, a love of craftsmanship and a passion for sustainability” to build a company “to whom the world’s leading brands could entrust their most important relationships”. The Restory partnered high-end footwear labels Manolo Blahnik and Nicholas Kirkwood as well as online

The team behind Circulo, a software platform connecting brand and repairers, has published a white paper that sets out the business case for circular services.

retailer Farfetch to enable them to physically connect to people who had the skills to repair bags, clothes and shoes. However, the company went into liquidation after “changes” led the co-founders to walk away in 2023; the company had external investment in 2022.

Digital foot forward

One year later, the pair launched Circulo alongside software developer Karm Khanna and Vipaasha Sheel, a former colleague. Circulo is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that enables brands, retailers, repair providers and repairfocused start-ups to build and manage repair businesses. “We are here to make repair profitable, scalable and seamless with smart software,” explains Ms Jacobs.

The founders identified a barrier to scaling repair is the absence of technology to address the demands of repair processes. Brands and businesses usually rely on manual

ticketing processes or legacy systems that become out of date and inefficient, they say. This new platform allows users to create a customer-facing portal through their website or instore; automate courier bookings, shipping labels and logistics communications; and access dashboards to provide visibility on orders and performance metrics. It can also provide quotes based on digital assessments of goods or facilitate bespoke quotes based on physical assessments.

Research

In the new white paper, Circulo quotes research from consultancy Deloitte that found 75% of consumers would consider using repair services, and that 56% had repaired items instead of replacing them in the past year. It also found two-thirds of consumers take a product’s reparability or durability into consideration before making a purchase and 54% say they are more likely to trust refurbished goods from leading brands. “When brands don’t offer repair services, customers often seek independent repair options, resulting in missed opportunities to deepen emotional connections, enhance loyalty and capture valuable first-party customer, product and repair data,” says Ms Rae.

She adds they were repeatedly told it is impossible to scale repair services when they launched the Restory in 2017 but now the landscape has transformed dramatically. “Curry’s now operates one of Europe's largest repair operations with 1,000 repair experts under one roof. Luxury pioneers like Chanel have dedicated repair ateliers in London, Apple's iPhone 16 is the most repairable yet, and shoe brand Veja has a repair destination in Paris,” she says.

She also comments that companies with effective service solutions see 6% revenue growth, customers are twice as likely to increase purchases when they feel heard, 82% of customers want help reducing time spent researching services, and 91% of executives know their loyalty programmes need better benefits. As incoming regulations will force brands to take more accountability for end-of-life for their products, the need to keep goods in circulation –with leather lending itself perfectly to this – will only increase. “The data is clear: consumers want to maintain relationships with brands through repair, but they need the right infrastructure and experience to do it.”

“Brands are missing crucial touch-points when customers seek repairs elsewhere.”

Mulberry: 10,000 repairs per year

The UKFT report that formed the basis of Cirulo’s white paper highlights the progress Mulberry has made with its Made to Last Manifesto, launched in 2021. The team at The Rookery, Mulberry’s flagship Somerset factory, is home to some of its most highly skilled artisans. They renew and repair over 10,000 bags a year and they maintain an archive of materials and hardware that goes back over 35 years. In recognition of this approach, Mulberry achieved B Corp Certification in August 2024, joining a global community of like-minded organisations focused on transparency and accountability. The company has also launched a Buy Back Programme, where Mulberry bags are authenticated and appraised, with the opportunity to put this value towards a new purchase. The suite of services is now available online as well as in its UK stores, where customers can make an appointment for an appraisal, or discover its exchange collection.

EMILY RAE, CIRCULO

Mulberry Pre-Loved bag.

Credit: Mulberry

TRANSPORT ROLLER easy replacement

LEATHER TAKE-UP SYSTEM exclusive

LARGER HOLDING ROLLER for quality and efficiency

Buyers from the luxury sector in France have specific requirements when it comes to

France’s future

Following our analysis in World Leather December 2024January 2025 of the effects on the luxury leathergoods sector of a drop in the supply of calfskins, Christophe Dehard, has pointed to wider changes in raw material supply. Mr Dehard, the president of industry body Alliance France Cuir, says developments upstream in the supply chain are going to affect the whole industry in France and that tanners are going to have to adapt.

Speaking recently to specialist fashion media, he said that what is happening upstream in the supply chain, as the agricultural sector develops, will inevitably have consequences for the leather industry. The range of cattle that farmers raise in the green fields of France will be different, he says. More of the animals in the national herd of 16.3 million head (at the start of 2024) will be from dairy breeds, while the proportion of beef cattle will go down.

Overall, numbers have fallen; 30 years ago, France’s cattle population was 20.5 million head. However, the proportion of dairy cattle in the total has remained steady at between 40% and 42%, according to figures published by the country’s national association of cattle farmers. “We are going to see the dairy herd dominate the figures more and more,” Mr

The president of Alliance France

Cuir confirms that changes in farming in France may have wideranging consequences for the whole of the leather sector there.

Dehard says, “and beef cattle will no longer be the bigger proportion. And what this will mean is a real change in the raw material we have to work with.”

Change

matters

It may not be obvious to outside observers, he suggests, but this change matters because hide type determines the suitability of leather for particular market segments. Leathergoods factories are expanding in France. Hermès had eight facilities for producing bags in 2010. In 2024, the total increased to 23 factories, spread across nine regions of the

leather.

Credit: Première Vision

“You cannot separate leather production from meat production, and you cannot separate either of those from cattle farming; we are going to have to understand each other better than we do at the moment”

CHRISTOPHE DEHARD

country. It may become less likely that some of the leather from tanneries in France will be suitable for use in these factories. It may be that, in future, a larger volume of this leather is more suitable for shoe or furniture production instead.

“All of this will mean that leather manufacturers here will become more and more dependent on sales in export markets,” the president of Alliance France Cuir says. “And, in the background, our tanners will have to evolve too if they are no longer able to source the raw material they are used to. There will be change across the whole value chain.”

Specific requirements

He raises doubts about the future of France’s standing in the global market for leather. He points out that the focus there has tended to be on high-end customers, while producers in other parts of the world have manufactured leather that he describes as being more suited to day-to-day use.

He explains: “Our customers in the luxury sector have very specific requirements and want to source leather from calfskins or from select cattle hides. We continue to make this leather in France and we always will, but perhaps in the future it will not be in high enough volumes to meet all of the luxury sector’s needs.”

In addition to this, tanners will need to make up their production volumes with other materials. And if what they have to work with is more and more black-and-white hides from, say, Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, Mr Dehard says it may become difficult to sell all the resulting finished leather in the markets the industry in France serves at the moment. “We will have to try to export the leather we make from that material and hope to get a good price for it,” he suggests.

Ready to respond

High environmental and traceability standards provide a source of optimism. The president of Alliance France Cuir says the industry there began investing heavily in sustainability and in traceability a decade ago, and did so from choice. “We were not under pressure to do this when we did it, but what we have in place as a result puts us in a good position to respond to the requirements that exist now,” he observes, insisting that these high standards and a focus on quality are what can keep leather from France at the top of the pile.

He adds: “We certainly won’t be able to compete on volume because France’s weekly cattle slaughter is 42,000 head, much lower than in the US or Australia. Volumes in Asia are increasing, too, especially in China. China has imported European cattle, including French breeds, and it is developing its cattle herd. In terms of volume, we are a small player. And if cattle breeds are the same the world over, the hides on offer from all these places will be similar. Therefore, it is on quality that we must compete.”

Alliance

France Cuir president, Christophe Dehard.

Credit: Alliance France Cuir

Open dialogue

To keep quality standards high, he thinks more dialogue and co-operation among suppliers and buyers at all stages of the supply chain is going to become a necessity. “One of the real challenges we face is that we are all going to have to get to know one another much better,” he explains, “because the leather industry is not just the companies that make and use leather. You cannot separate leather production from meat production, and you cannot separate either of those from cattle farming. We are going to have to understand each other better than we do at the moment. The same word can mean different things at different stages of the production chain, so we have to learn to interpret each other’s vocabulary and understand each other’s needs.”

There is already a meeting point for these different industries, the abattoir. But Christophe Dehard’s view is that good conversations are going to have to take place at all stages of production. It has taken a decade for some platforms for dialogue to get going and these are becoming more commonplace, he accepts. For the most part, though, these conversations have taken place in the private domain and he wants something much more open to develop, for the good of all the players involved.

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Perforation perfection. The interior of the Cullinan Series II super-luxury SUV, which uses perforations in 46 different pieces of leather to create art and tell a story.

All credits: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Skills celebration

High-end automotive company Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrated its apprenticeship programme at a special event in mid-February. It organised the gathering, at its global headquarters and centre of luxury manufacturing excellence at Goodwood in the south of England, as part of the UK’s national apprenticeship week. Former and current employees attended, including many who have come through the in-house apprenticeship programme that the company launched in 2006. Local member of parliament, Jess Brown-Fuller, was also among the guests.

More than 2,500 people work at the Goodwood site at the moment, including 95 who are part of the current apprenticeship intake. A further 133 members of the workforce at the moment are graduates of the in-house programme; some of them are now in supervisory or management-level roles. Alumni from the programme have also been able to use the skills and experience they gained at Rolls-Royce Motors to pursue opportunities in other industries and settings.

Former apprentices have now set up their own networking group, through which they will aim to make

Luxury automotive company RollsRoyce Motors celebrates its successful apprenticeship programme as an essential component of efforts to build up the skilled workforce it will need in the future.

connections and friendships across and outside the business. They aim to use this to support each other in their everyday work and career development. They will also act as mentors to new recruits joining the programme. The window for applications for the 2025 apprenticeship programme is open until March 31. Rolls-Royce Motors says it welcomes applications from young people with a wide range of prior experience, interests and educational backgrounds. Successful applicants will begin their training in August.

Workforce of the future

It can take trainees between two and four years to complete apprenticeships at Rolls-Royce Motors. During this time, recruits can work in a range of specialisms alongside experienced craftspeople. This includes working in the company’s leathershop, as well as in its assembly, woodshop and other departments. Important educational opportunities at local colleges and universities go hand in hand with this; through these, the apprentices can earn technical, vocational and degree qualifications.

Director of human resources at RollsRoyce Motors, Mark Adams, is in no doubt about the importance of the programme to the company. He says apprenticeships play a vital role in developing the skilled workforce it will need in the future. “The combination of hands-on training, work experience and nationally recognised qualifications provides a fantastic pathway to a fulfilling career for young people seeking alternatives to conventional further and higher education,“ he explains.

He adds that an important aim of the February event was to recognise “the immense contribution” of former apprentices, who have gone on to become “leaders, innovators and role models here”. Fostering connections, building networks and exchanging ideas, which the alumni group will seek to do, are initiatives that the apprentices themselves wanted to launch. Mr Adams says he looks forward to seeing the network grow and develop.

Inspired by young women

For Mrs Brown-Fuller, impressive aspects of the national apprenticeship week event included insight into the wide range of career opportunities on offer at Rolls-Royce for young people who prefer not to go straight to university after school. “It was wonderful to be part of the celebration,” the politician says. She adds that she was impressed by the numbers of young women who are part of the programme at the moment, or have already completed it. Young women exploring a career in manufacturing, with the support and mentoring of other women “particularly inspired” her.

The Goodwood facility is the only factory in the world that makes RollsRoyce cars and all the vehicles it produces are “meticulously built by hand”, the company states. A single vehicle can use nine full-size hides’ worth of leather in its

“The combination of hands-on training, work experience and nationally recognised qualifications provides a fantastic pathway.”

MARK ADAMS, ROLLS-ROYCE MOTORS

construction, which means knowledge of and expertise in working with leather is a key part of the operation. This is why leather is also part of the apprenticeship programme.

Perforations make a picture

A recent example of the high levels of expertise in the leathershop at Goodwood came to light last year when the company shared details of a new technique for creating artwork in car interiors using tiny perforations in the leather. Then, at the start of this year, in an in-house series of videos called The Voice of the Maker, through which it aims to showcase the savoir-faire of its workforce, Rolls-Royce Motors gave a deeper insight into this project. Its leather specialists developed the new craft technique that makes it possible. Perforations have been a feature of automotive leather for many years. Original equipment manufacturers, including Rolls-Royce, had previously placed perforations in leather for functional reasons, most obviously increased breathability. Until now, when they have been used for aesthetic reasons, it has nearly always been in what the company’s product design team describes as “a very geometrical

alignment” to give a sporty look.

In this special project, though, the launch of the Cullinan Series II superluxury SUV, the perforations have a more important artistic role to play. They offer a representation of the cloud patterns that the company says are often visible in the skies over Goodwood. “We wanted to go in a more emotional direction and tell a story through our design,” the team says.

To do so, designers have used two different sizes of perforations, smaller ones with a diameter of 0.8 millimetres and larger ones of 1.2 millimetres. These have to go into 46 different pieces of leather per vehicle interior, and they have to go into each piece in exactly the right position because the technicians in the leathershop place the leather around each part manually.

The team talks of these perforations as being “like little jewels” and reveals that it has to put more than 100,000 of them into the interior of each car. Most of these go into the leather on the seats, but there are also some on other elements, such as door-handles, speakers and the picnic tables that are one of the features in the Cullinan’s rear cabin. Each tiny detail makes a contribution to the whole.

Politician Jess Brown-Fuller (centre) with apprentices at the Rolls-Royce Motors centre of luxury manufacturing excellence at Goodwood in the south of England.

Change takes time

What is the current situation regarding preparing new generations of leathergoods artisans in Tuscany and in other parts of Italy?

The issue in Italy is that many parents want their children to become doctors or lawyers, or to enter another profession that is widely regarded as prestigious. But we need manual workers, too. We have technical high schools, now called ITS Academies, but there is a skills gap because, although these schools are forming people in some aspects of the world of work, they are not forming the workers that our businesses need.

What are the needs of leathergoods businesses?

There are good internal schools in some of the bigger companies. From an Assopellettieri point of view, the programme that we have invested in in Milan, Ispel, is also working well. It teaches young people about cutting, colouring and stitching leather. Our plan to build a similar school in Tuscany is still in place. I have calculated that we have around 21,000 workers in the leathergoods manufacturing sector in Italy now and that only 9,000 of

Carlo Briccola is president of the young business leaders’ group at Italy’s main representative body for the fashion sector, Confindustria Moda Accessori. He is also involved in leathergoods manufacturers’ association Assopellettieri, all while helping to run his family’s bagmaking business, Bric’s. Here, he argues that the leathergoods industry is important for preserving skills and creating jobs.

Confindustria Moda Accessori young business leaders’ president Carlo Briccola.

Credit: Micam

them have gone through our formal training programmes. It is a good thing for the government to develop ITS Academies because these institutions can give people not just the opportunity to learn, but also the time to learn. Nevertheless, it is impossible for a young person to come into our companies from one of those ITS Academies and be up and running right away. What is necessary is for the association, the government and companies to work together to develop a new generation of workers.

What do you tell your workers or potential new employees about the opportunities available in leathergoods manufacturing today? How do you convince them that they should devote time to suitable training and then come to work in the industry?

There are around 40 different professions that people can pursue in leathergoods manufacturing companies. There are the traditional activities mentioned above, such as cutting. Others include being an e-commerce manager, or a business analyst or a sustainability manager. I think this is exciting, but there is little point in a company like Bric’s, which is mediumsized, investing in sustainability and the digitalisation of our sales operations if we cannot cut leather properly. I am 36 years old and I know the generation that is now finishing education and potentially looking for a job in a company like ours. I know we have to give them time. I make a point of holding regular discussions with our new workers. Just recently, I was talking to three of them about this. All three of them said that the best thing about the job was holding the fruit of their time and effort, a finished product, in their hands.

Are bigger companies doing enough to help?

Yes, some are. As mentioned, some run their own schools. We work closely with some of the big brands and we are able to invite them to Ispel to talk to students there about their products and their manufacturing processes. That works well. But, of course, small- and medium-sized companies are a very important part of our sector. What is necessary is for us all to help each other on this, to work together to preserve Made In Italy.

In 2024, a minister for education in the Italian government, Giuseppe Valditara, visited the Micam and Mipel exhibitions in Milan and suggested that one of the ways to preserve Made In Italy might be to bring workers from Africa into the industry as part of a controlled immigration programme. He said young people in Egypt and other countries could learn the Italian language and about Italian technology and production methods in Africa and then come equipped to work in Italy for a time. Could this be a solution to the workforce challenges that leathergoods manufacturers face?

Well, you would need to find out from the Italian government more detail on exactly how that would work. It is true that there are Italian companies working in North Africa. You could bring people from there to work in factories here to help manufacture products that would be Made In Italy. That could be a short-term solution. But we need to look further ahead, too. We need a long-term solution. We have to change the mentality of Italian people, and I mean parents as well as young people, to convince them that this is a good industry to work in. That is a change that could take five or even ten years to bring about.

A change of mentality is needed to convince young people in Italy, and their parents, that making beautiful leathergoods is a worthwhile work option.

Credit: Mipel

Government minister, Giuseppe Valditara, presenting a possible short-term solution to the workforce shortage to leathergoods and footwear business leaders in Milan. Credit: Micam

Beast to Beauty

Aishwarya Sharma visits CPL Tannery in Thailand to pass on her knowledge of the tanning process to Gen Z customers.

ALL CREDITS: PUMA

“

I A seat at the table

had no idea leather was made from cow hides,” says England footballer Maya Le Tissier as part of a Puma podcast on sustainability in fashion. “I don’t know what I thought it was made of, but definitely not a cow.”

She joins fellow footballer Moses Duckrell and blogger Oliver Bromfield on a series called Green Flags, which Puma launched in a bid to offer more transparency around its materials and manufacturing in a way that is accessible to younger consumers. One of the episodes, Lessons in Leather, uses a quiz format to explore the topic, highlighting that up to 45% of hides are ending up in landfill. When asked, “Are all ‘vegan leather’ materials made from natural materials?” the panellists were shocked to find out most are plastic-based. “I thought vegan meant it would be completely pure,” says Duckrell. Their comments support Leather UK findings that 10% of people don’t know what leather is made of and half have no idea what ‘vegan leather’ is. “Throughout this episode we quote reliable data sources,” adds Mr Duckrell – with the Nothing to Hide website, operated by this magazines publisher World Trades Publishing, listed as one of the sources. More than 640,000 people had viewed the video on YouTube alone at the time of going to press.

Youth driven

In 2023, Puma launched Voices of a Re:Generation, an initiative that aims to include Generation Z’s perspectives and recommendations on sustainability, and a continuation of its Conference of the People event in London. Its own research found 71% of young people felt their voices weren’t being heard when it comes to the environment and would like to see brands

Puma has enlisted ‘youth voices’ and influencers to explore questions surrounding real leather versus its alternatives – and uses our Nothing to Hide website to inform the debate.

making more commitments (49%), communicating their goals better (40%) and being more transparent (34%). “We’ve always documented our progress in sustainable practices,” commented Puma’s chief sourcing officer, Anne-Laure Descours, at the time. “However, our participation in Conference of the People shed light on the fact that the information we share isn’t always easily understood by the next generation.”

The Green Flags podcasts are an extension of a series called #Knowyourstuff, which features the Voices of a Re:Generation. One of these ‘voices’ is Aishwarya Sharma, an Indian ‘fashion activist’, who explores the debate around leather versus nonleather in a seven-part short video series, available on YouTube and on Puma’s channels. The German brand has a long history with leather, with its first shoes in 1948 made from leather and many millions having been produced since, but the material only accounts for around 4% of its footwear materials today.

Although the video starts with offering a platform to animal rights activists PETA’s false claims that more than 1 billion animals are slaughtered for their skins each year, Puma’s senior director of sustainability, Veronique Rochet, counters this by explaining that leather is a by-product of the beef industry and

that if the skins weren’t used, they would be sent to landfill. Peta’s claim that leather has six times the environmental impact of polyurethane is also left unchallenged, as is its suggestion that mushroom (mycelium) and olive-based materials are scalable and viable alternatives.

Tannery tour

This myth is denounced in the next episode when Ms Sharma visits Puma’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Romain Girard, vice-president of innovation, says while the company is assessing new materials such as mycelium, and hybrid materials containing olives, pineapples and vine leaves, as well as a 100% TPU shoe, they do not meet the quality requirements and they cost at least twice as much as its current options. “Consumers are not willing to pay double for these materials,” he admits, adding that they are continuing research with suppliers. “But it’s not just about vegan versus non-vegan, it’s about footprint. The natural alternative (mushroom) has a high energy consumption whereas the 100% plastic is very easy to recycle. So, which is better?”

Aishwarya heads to Thailand to the CPL tannery, to find out more about the tanning process. Although little detail is given, she explains how its Zeology leather is made with fewer chemicals and less energy, and helps to make the limited-edition Puma Re:Suede compostable, in certain conditions. Zeology is a tanning method created by Smit & Zoon’s Nera, based on the mineral zeolite and is chrome-free, heavy metal-free and aldehyde-free. She also visits CPL’s water treatment plant, showing how bacteria are used to clean the water before it is discharged back to the environment.

“Sustainability can be complex and the leather topic is embedded with sensitive themes, so I’ve taken care in making sure this is approached in an open and transparent way that inspires people to become informed about the materials they choose to wear,” she concludes. Perhaps a look at how the synthetic materials are made and their end-of-life options would have rounded the debate out further.

Carbon reductions

Last November, Puma published updated sustainability targets, which were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as aligned with a 1.5°C climate scenario. By 2030, the

Puma’s Romain Girard explains ‘next-generation’ materials are currently too expensive and do not meet the quality standards to use at scale.

A seat at the table

German brand seeks to cut its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from a 2017 baseline year and has committed to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain and logistics by 33% compared to 2017. It will insist on increased renewable energy use at its core suppliers and increase the use of less carbon-intensive materials – perhaps a move away from virgin synthetic materials will be necessary to reach this goal. Last autumn, the Higg Materials Sustainability Index lowered its average values for bovine leather by between 55% and 67% (see separate article) as a result of a new body of work. Where bovine leather previously had a global warming potential score of 36.8 points, this has been amended to 14.6 points, a reduction of more than 60%.

Circularity remains high on the agenda for 2030, including targets to enter more circular business models and to introduce resell and repair in selected markets. New material targets for 2030 include using 100% recycled polyester fabric. In apparel, 30% of the polyester fabric will be fibre-to-fibre recycled, while 20% of cotton fabric will also be from recycled sources. The brand plans to invest in next-generation material research options with a focus on footwear and will continue scaling up textile-to-textile recycling.

“By openly discussing the complexities of the materials used in our products, like leather and its alternatives, we hope to foster a more informed and balanced conversation about sustainable clothing and footwear choices, which is essential for driving positive change,” concludes Ms Descours. “The #KnowYourStuff series is a testament to our commitment of transparency and our promise made during our Conference of the People event to include the next generation as part of these important discussions.”

is

Despite an increasing number of styles containing leather, the material only accounts for 4% of the brand’s footwear materials.

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