Leathergoods brand to benefit from R&D funding
Elvis & Kresse, the accessories brand which uses Burberry’s leather offcuts, has been selected to share £1.2 million by the UK’s Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT) to help “boost productivity via creative R&D”.
The programme, led by University of the Arts London in partnership with UK universities, is part of the AHRC Creative Industries Clusters Programme (CICP), funded by the UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
From over 80 applications, 13 were shortlisted and provided with one-to-one mentoring, business workshops and training to help develop their initial concepts into fully fledged business plans. The shortlisted businesses then had to pitch their idea to a panel of industry and academic experts.
Awards totalling £1.2m will be made to: Ananas Anam, Anna Glover, AWAYTOMARS, Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, Chip[S] Board, Doppelhaus, Elvis & Kresse, Segura, Tengri and Tibor.
Professor Jane Harris, BFTT programme director, said: “Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economy and critical to the creative sector in particular, making up over 95% of creative businesses in the UK. The Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT) SME Research and Development Programme seeks to highlight the value and impact SMEs can have in our sector and on the economy, when provided with the right type of financial support and research expertise.”
Low raw materials prices fail to foment leather production in Turkey
Industry commentators in Turkey have said they expect few positive developments in the domestic leather sector in the second half of the year.
Lockdown measures led to the closure of around 60% of the country’s leather manufacturing facilities, with only those who make shoe upper leather continuing production.
Hopes of a quick recovery are not high because, even before the pandemic, production in tanneries making nappa for leather garments was low.
Even reduced raw materials prices of $1-$2 per piece for raw sheepskins and less than $1 per kilo for domestic wet-salted cattle hides seem unlikely to stimulate an increase in production.
