The International Union of the Leather Technicians and Chemists Societies (IULTCS) will host an International Leather Forum at the Palais Brogniart in Paris on September 17, at which elected IULTCS members, professional journalists, representatives of professional organisations, and 100 invited guests will discuss strategies and marketing in the global leather industry. During the forum—also known as the ‘Istanbul Initiative’, as the idea to hold the event was conceived at a meeting in Istanbul last year—participants will consider the image of leather, its markets, its market positioning, support of the industry supply chain and innovation.

Looking at the issues facing the leather industry, IULTCS stated, “Leather has, on the one hand, an incredibly positive image in the mind of the consumer and it is utilised by the most famous brands; it is also a wonderful historic example of recycling. On the other hand, leather has in recent years lost a lot of markets and market share without creating any really new markets. There is also the risk of a loss of credibility when used in certain markets as a commodity.”

The organisation added that the majority of tanneries are still SMEs which have a general lack of global strategic vision and marketing approach and that the leather industry sector is too small and fragmented to justify large resource allocations for R&D by the suppliers. It also noted that leather research centres are generally small and scattered around the world and as a consequence no major innovation has occurred in recent decades.

It was as a result of these problems that IULTCS decided to initiate the leather forum in order to bring together the different players in the sector. Speaking at the meeting in Istanbul last May, president of the IULTCS, Marc Folachier said that “there are places and times to compete and places and times to cooperate”, and the goal of the forum is to permit all the actors in the leather industry to talk freely amongst themselves.

The four main themes of the forum will be: training tomorrow’s experts; priorities for research and the creation of a world research network; market positioning of leather; positive communication and crisis communication.