Film was right to show the rough and the smooth sides of leather industry
13/06/2018
Speaking at the Freiberg Leather Days on June 13, Mr Strebost said some in the industry had criticised the film for showing images of poor practice in tanneries outside Europe alongside images from high-performing and responsible tanneries in Germany, including Heller-Leder.
“There is a slightly more unpleasant side to the industry and that is what the media usually cover,” he said. “We wanted to show that there is another way and show the beautiful side of leather as a contrast. Maybe we broke some taboos in doing this because I know that there are people who may not want to the less responsible side ever to be shown, but this is the reality.”
The film was jointly funded by tanners and suppliers in Germany after they decided at a meeting in Hong Kong in 2017 that they needed to respond to the negative publicity the industry is subjected to. He said the experience convinced him that one single, industry-wide campaign to project a positive image of leather will be very difficult to establish.
“We were only a small team working on this one project and it was still difficult to make decisions,” he continued. “I think one campaign on its own is not the way. A series of smaller campaigns will have much more reach.”
In response to a question from World Leather, Mr Strebost said he didn’t think recent negative publicity for the plastics industry had changed anything for leather yet. “It may go that way in future if the mood against plastic continues,” he said. “Any campaign against plastic should help leather, which is a natural material.”
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