Danish tannery Scan-Hide, German tannery Richard Hoffmans and Nera, a division of Dutch leather chemicals firm Smit & Zoon which was set up last year to focus on new tanning methodologies, were all involved.

Scan-Hide provided the hides, all of which are sourced from Swedish farms and can be traced all the way back to the animal and its specific field using the company's Spoor system.

Scan-Hide spin-off Spoor specialises in marking hides with laser-based technology to enable their traceability and has previously supported traceable leather collections from fellow Danish companies Frederica and Roccamore over the past year.

In essence, Spoor’s technology offers brands the ability to guarantee that the leather in their products comes from cattle from specific geographies and even specific farms.

When it came to tanning the hides, Scan-Hide used Nera’s Zeology system, based on the mineral zeolite, which ensures that the leather remains chrome-, heavy metal- and aldehyde-free. Polyurethane coatings were avoided, with the partners instead opting for “liquid silk”.

Leather-specific biodegradability testing (BLC ISO 20136) found that the bags could biodegrade by 89.2% in 28 days.

Chief executive of Scan-Hide, Michael Søndergaard, commented on the range: “Our ambition is to help our customers increase the value of their product by delivering premium hide quality and enabling them in the transition towards sustainable and traceable leather.

“We were therefore happy to collaborate with Anya Hindmarch and our other partners to find ways to ensure biodegradability without compromising the quality and performance of the finished leather.”