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Browse a handpicked selection of World Leather articles, thought provoking topics ranging from fast fashion to zero waste are all here. Premium + and World Leather subscribers can delve deeper, with access to the industry beating archive of over 1,400 World Leather technical papers in the archive.
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09 November 2021
A COP26 call to arms - leather, world leather A COP26 call to arms
Free Content
Leather industry bodies have joined forces to ask the COP26 summit to recognise the benefits of using leather and other natural materials instead of allowing brands and consumers to develop an “unnecessary...
28 September 2021
Entrepreneurial spirit - leather, world leather Entrepreneurial spirit
Free Content
Help is at hand for leather-sector start-ups in France in the shape of incubator body Au Delà du Cuir (ADC). More than 60 small companies have received a boost from it already. As the industry seeks to rebuild ...
21 September 2021
Sieme weaves leather waste network - leather, world leather Sieme weaves leather waste network
Free Content
The founder of a new accessories brand predicts a more collaborative way of working that gives Italian artisans a bigger influence on design. She is also helping to boost ASPRI, a new association that gives...
14 September 2021
Doctor’s orders - leather, world leather Doctor’s orders
Free Content
Few brands have kept pace with the times as well as the seemingly ever-present Dr Martens, which remains fashionably relevant following wave after wave of popular culture. World Leather catches up with the...
06 September 2021
Industry challenges Veja’s leather decision - leather, world leather Industry challenges Veja’s leather decision
Free Content
Veja has published the results of a lifecycle assessment (LCA) exercise, claiming that it shows raw materials to contribute more than 70% of its total carbon footprint, with leather accounting for almost all...
30 August 2021
A century of tradition - leather, world leather A century of tradition
Free Content
German outdoor brand Hanwag’s manufacturing techniques enable easy resoling for boots that are eminently durable, and it is proud of its longstanding partnership with German tannery Heinen.
24 August 2021
Same leather, a new look at jobs - leather, world leather Same leather, a new look at jobs
Free Content
A new circular strategy for leather and textiles, soon to be released by the European Union (EU), promises to underscore the significant role leather continues to play in promoting a fair and closed-loop...
05 August 2021
A new approach to sourcing leather - leather, world leather A new approach to sourcing leather
Free Content
Mulberry wants its customers to think of buying its bags as a way to contribute towards saving the world.
03 August 2021
French resistance - leather, world leather French resistance
Free Content
The president of France’s Conseil National du Cuir (CNC), Frank Boehly, has continued his campaign to confirm leather’s circular-economy credentials in recent weeks, not least in a stout defence of leather in...
29 July 2021
Circular material from leather waste - leather, world leather Circular material from leather waste
Free Content
Innovative yarn producer Spinnova is adding leather to the list of natural raw materials it can work with. KT Trading is lending its weight and its waste to the idea. Two major footwear brands, adidas and...
27 July 2021
Late lessons in luxury - leather, world leather Late lessons in luxury
Free Content
As Diego Della Valle, the CEO of leathergoods group Tod’s, mulls stepping back from the day-to-day running of the company, he considers how the market has matured – and says he has changed his mind about what...
22 July 2021
Milestones for Gruppo Dani - leather, world leather Milestones for Gruppo Dani
Free Content
One of Italy’s most prominent leather manufacturing groups is celebrating a series of recent achievements on its path towards embracing circular-economy principles.
20 July 2021
Links for luxury’s loops - leather, world leather Links for luxury’s loops
Free Content
While the classic luxury experience was crafted to surprise and delight, a new narrative is gaining ground, with deep roots in preserving the beauty of the natural world and its resources through...
15 July 2021
Flaws in Farm to Fork - leather, world leather Flaws in Farm to Fork
Free Content
Multistakeholder group European Livestock Voice has flagged up nine contradictions in the Farm To Fork strategy. Leather industry body COTANCE is one of the signatories of a joint statement highlighting these...
06 July 2021
Eastern promise - leather, world leather Eastern promise
Free Content
Italian footwear group Sergio Rossi is betting big on Asia with a new direction in its 70th year. Its CEO has placed great emphasis on sustainability, with the factory now running on green energy.
29 June 2021
Material choices matter - leather, world leather Material choices matter
Free Content
The circular economy vision that has emerged from William McDonough’s early work on Cradle To Cradle suggests that we must make less, buy less and consume less. If this is to work, the things we do buy and use ...
22 June 2021
The sustainable €6 million bag - leather, world leather The sustainable €6 million bag
Free Content
Bologna-based luxury brand Boarini Milanesi broke a world record last year when it launched a new version of its Parva Mea model, the most expensive handbag in the world. The eye-watering price-tag supports...
15 June 2021
Shoes blaze Budget-Day trail - leather, world leather Shoes blaze Budget-Day trail
Free Content
The first woman in Canada to become minister of finance, Chrystia Freeland, delivered her inaugural federal budget speech on April 19. As detailed here, fine leather shoes from Italy had an important role to...
08 June 2021
Flair for repair - leather, world leather Flair for repair
Free Content
France’s Conseil National du Cuir believes specialist shoe repair professionals are fervent defenders of circular-economy values.
01 June 2021
Hand, head and heart - leather, world leather Hand, head and heart
Free Content
Following consumer backlash and mounting regulation surrounding fashion’s clandestine practice of destroying leftover merchandise, enterprising luxury houses have looked within to find ways of beautifying...
25 May 2021
Time to tell leather’s circular story - leather, world leather Time to tell leather’s circular story
Free Content
The European Commission is pressing ahead with its plans to bring in official policies, and even legislation, to determine what is and what is not a sustainable product. A public consultation is under way,...
11 May 2021
Nontrivial pursuits - leather, world leather Nontrivial pursuits
Free Content
Take the high-speed train down from mountain-rimmed Seoul to coastal Busan and you cannot fail to spot South Korea’s trek-ready, hilly terrain, which winds itself up and down the country like a spine. Hiking...
04 May 2021
Radley – no underdog in luxury market - leather, world leather Radley – no underdog in luxury market
Free Content
The UK leathergoods brand has expansion firmly in its sights. Radley’s head of supply and development tells World Leather that a more sumptuous look, and increasing leather useage, is part of its growth...
27 April 2021
Cheap fossil fuels are the problem - leather, world leather Cheap fossil fuels are the problem
Free Content
Efforts to shift businesses to a circular-economy model are being undermined, the 2021 Davos audience hears, by fossil-fuel subsidies the size of the GDP of Japan.
20 April 2021
Bags that free hides from purgatory - leather, world leather Bags that free hides from purgatory
Free Content
Designer and developer of leather collections Moore & Giles has released a capsule collection of bags called Reclaimed. What sets it apart is that, on this occasion, the Virginia-based company has chosen hides ...
13 April 2021
Clear goals - leather, world leather Clear goals
Free Content
In early 2021, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation published a set of policy goals that make several things clear. The circular economy is the way for the world to put the current wasteful way of doing things...
01 April 2021
Total transparency - leather, world leather Total transparency
Free Content
A footwear company from Denmark believes that using leather that consumers can trace back to the farms that reared the cattle that supplied the hides strengthens its brand and enhances its sustainability story.
23 February 2021
New possibility for recycling leather scraps - leather, world leather New possibility for recycling leather scraps
Free Content
A US company has coined a way of turning tanneries’ waste into a new material without bonding with polymers; interested parties include Timberland...
18 February 2021
No contest - leather, world leather No contest
Free Content
The price of leather is at its most affordable for years and footwear producers shopping in the lower-quality range of the upper materials market...
16 February 2021
Tired of just talking about sustainability - leather, world leather Tired of just talking about sustainability
Free Content
A stimulating discussion with an insightful sustainable footwear expert and the extra time to think during months of lockdown were the catalysts that helped Silvateam...
11 February 2021
Too cool for fast fashion - leather, world leather Too cool for fast fashion
Free Content
Leather jackets seem popular again, which has come as no surprise to the founder of Boda Skins, Nathan Alexander.
09 February 2021
Farfetch tool too far-fetched - leather, world leather Farfetch tool too far-fetched
Free Content
The H2O-heavy calculation in a new fashion footprint tool from e-commerce platform Farfetch is comparatively unfair to leather.
04 February 2021
Beast to Beauty: Artisans win hands down - leather, world leather Beast to Beauty: Artisans win hands down
Free Content
Fendi set out to find artisans who still live and breathe traditional crafts from the different regions of Italy to work with the company on special editions of its Baguette bag.
30 November 2020
Beast to Beauty: Willique blends tropical notes with high-end appeal - leather, world leather Beast to Beauty: Willique blends tropical notes with high-end appeal
Free Content
The accessories brand creates employment in the Turks and Caicos and sees material selection as an integral part of its appeal.
23 November 2020
By human hand - leather, world leather By human hand
Free Content
Lexus chose a leather artisan, Otis Ingrams, to launch a new film series. The short documentaries highlight parallels between the work of Lexus's own master craftspeople (takumi) and that of skilled people...
16 November 2020
Metal-free and traceable - leather, world leather Metal-free and traceable
Free Content
Luxury group Kering has been running sustainability programmes since 2012. Its most recent sustainability goals set ambitious targets for its leathergoods brands and their suppliers in the tanning industry.
09 November 2020
Standards are on the way - leather, world leather Standards are on the way
Free Content
An initiative by French standards body Afnor has led to the possibility of new ISO standards on the circular economy. An ISO technical committee is already hard at work on this.
02 November 2020
The ultimate circular raw material - leather, world leather The ultimate circular raw material
Free Content
Smit & Zoon has launched a new company, Nera, through which it will bring to market tanning solutions that it describes as “truly sustainable”.
26 October 2020
Leather industry answers back - leather, world leather Leather industry answers back
Free Content
A row over the treatment of leather in the Higg Materials Sustainability Index has had two potentially positive consequences.
22 October 2020
Small-batch boots - leather, world leather Small-batch boots
Free Content
A footwear manufacturer, a tanner and a whiskey company mixed together centuries of know-how and craftsmanship to make a special-edition work boot.
07 September 2020
Beast to Beauty: Ethical shift - leather, world leather Beast to Beauty: Ethical shift
Free Content
The Cambridge Satchel Company’s iconic products have become world famous in the last decade.
31 August 2020
Secondhand luxury marketplace: a perfect home for leather - leather, world leather Secondhand luxury marketplace: a perfect home for leather
Free Content
The market for secondhand luxury goods is thriving, with leather leading the way.
24 August 2020
Ethiopia’s story ‘has just begun’ - leather, world leather Ethiopia’s story ‘has just begun’
Free Content
A Vivobarefoot and Pittards partnership has created jobs and opportunities in the African country. With brands looking at new sourcing destinations..
17 August 2020
Circling the wagons has to stop - leather, world leather Circling the wagons has to stop
Free Content
Chief sustainability officer at PrimeAsia, Fernando Bellese, accepts that leather faces “rough competition” from the makers of other materials, but says there are a number of important...
10 August 2020
Zero-waste heroes - leather, world leather Zero-waste heroes
Free Content
SICIT, a specialist producer of fertiliser and other products, has spent decades developing solutions to the age-old problem of how best to find a use for and extract value from the waste...

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