Royal endorsement for leather’s place in the circular economy
A ‘fashion taskforce’ set up by the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) coalition has developed a tool called Digital ID to provide a virtual certificate of the sustainability credentials of luxury products.
Leathergoods brands including Mulberry, Burberry, Chloé, Gabriela Hearst and Giorgio Armani are among the members of the taskforce.
Representatives of some of the brands, including Mulberry chief executive, Thierry Andretta, attended an event in Rome at the end of October to demonstrate progress on Digital ID.
Examining a Mulberry bag equipped with the new traceability tool, SMI founder, Charles, Prince of Wales, first asked Mr Andretta if the bag was made from leather. On confirming that it was, the Mulberry chief executive was able to offer extra details, including that the source of the leather was a cattle farm engaged in regenerative farming and that the leather was manufactured using low-carbon production methods.
According to The Times, Prince Charles reacted by saying he wished more people “knew the value” of ethically produced leather as part of the circular economy. He compared leather favourably to plastic or “strange, spun” synthetic material.
He said the development of a tool to make it easier to communicate this information to consumers was encouraging.
IMAGE: The Prince of Wales and Thierry Andretta discussing leather and the circular economy.
CREDIT: Clarence House.
