Kering calls for increased traceability for hides
06/05/2014
The majority of its leather products are made in Italy, with most leather tanned in two group-owned tanneries. Its guidelines cover supply chain traceability, certification, livestock feed, ecological sustainability and animal welfare.
Earlier this year, one of its brands, Bottega Veneta, launched a project to certify sheep leather, providing the tannery with information about the origins of each hide, through a partnership with the University of Padova, the Russo tannery in Casandrino and ICE, an Italian certification body.
A pilot programme covering bovine leather at the group’s Blutonic tannery will enable traceability of 90% of Gucci’s bovine leather by early 2015 with the goal of 100% traceability by 2016.
Kering has also joined sector and cross-sector groups “to try and influence and improve the traceability and sustainability” of the leather trade more broadly.
“It is imperative that the leather and meat industry work together to not only provide traceability options for hides but also to promote more sustainable practices, as well as the introduction of regulatory measures for leather to obtain wider-scale traceability," it said.
The French group, which published the updates in its latest sustainability report, follows the principal that, based on the market value of beef and its co-products, one can attribute between 8% and 10% of the impacts of cattle rearing to leather.
Share this story:
