Nike’s ‘Techleather’ naming will conflict with leather labelling laws
Nike has launched the Tiempo Maestro football boot featuring an upper material branded as “Techleather”.
However, the use of the word “leather” for a synthetic or engineered material will conflict with labelling laws in multiple EU Member States and key global markets.
Countries with specific national legislation protecting the leather designation include Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where the term “leather” is legally restricted to materials derived from animal hide and processed through recognised tanning methods. Synthetic and composite materials fall outside that legal definition.
Outside the EU, Brazil operates similarly strict leather protection rules, reserving the word “leather” exclusively for genuine animal derived material and prohibiting its use for synthetic or composite alternatives.
Branding a non-hide material as “Techleather” will therefore place the product in direct breach of material description rules in these territories, exposing it to mandatory relabelling and regulatory enforcement.
