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World Leather

Explore World Leather’s collection of Leather and the Circular Economy articles covering key issues, innovations and developments shaping the global leather industry. From fast fashion and the circular economy to sustainability, responsible production, leather technology and zero-waste manufacturing, our features offer insight and analysis from across the sector.

All feature articles are free to read. Premium+ members and World Leather subscribers also have access to our extensive archive of more than 1,400 technical papers and in-depth articles, providing an unrivalled resource for leather science, manufacturing technology and industry expertise.

The pull of protein

The new chair of CICB, Carlos Obregon, says “a repositioning” of leather is required. He argues that its circular credentials, including its links to the same raw material as many protein food...

Still special
In 2022, industry leaders in Le Marche feared for the future of the...
Suddenly, the EU loves “essential” livestock
Livestock farming contributes 40% of the total added value of the...
Footwear offers hope for lasting change
A student has used her passion for inclusive footwear as a springboard...
Ecco trials leather waste fibre
The Danish brand has shown that wet blue shavings can be transformed into...
A monument in need of rebuilding
Our analysis of Kering’s confusing recent messages about leather concludes ...

15 September 2026

UNIDO sounds the call for harmony

A UNIDO project to set out new guidelines for calculating and assessing the environmental impact of leather is complete. The resulting document seeks to settle long-running disputes about the industry’s share...

09 September 2026

Mulberry’s ‘true north’ points to the farm

The leathergoods brand has teamed up with British Pasture Leather for a collection that tells of a closer connection to animals and the land.

02 September 2026

A battle won, but the fight goes on

The European Parliament and the European Commission have listened and have removed leather from the scope of EUDR. Some campaign groups have taken the news badly.

05 August 2026

Act of faith

Later this year, the European Commission will publish a new Circular Economy Act. Meanwhile, China’s most recent Five-Year Plan suggests that a shift to circular models of production and consumption could...

29 July 2026

Carbon-neutral leather is here

A new programme of data collection and supply chain collaboration can help leather make a fresh impression on brands.

23 July 2026

Foam from home

SLG has established a new biofoam division to help make the fullest possible use of the hides it sources, and to confirm its status as a single, vertically integrated supplier of seating solutions.

15 July 2026

Raw material quest

Leather’s appeal remains strong for Turkey’s footwear industry, in spite of important changes in the domestic supply landscape.

08 July 2026

No shortcuts

The furniture sector is an important piece in the Made In Italy jigsaw. Another sold-out Salone del Mobile exhibition in Milan in April, in spite of the state of the world, is good news for the leather sector.

20 May 2026

Economic pain can spur circularity

Even in the face of a tough trading environment, some brands have found ways to push ahead with sustainability initiatives, according to Euromonitor’s insight manager for fashion.

13 May 2026

Lasting trend

Beyond Beyoncé’s influence, the western boot was popular long before her 2024 album Cowboy Carter. An advance look at autumn-winter 2026-2027 collections at Micam in Milan in February suggests the trend will...

06 May 2026

Heroes amid the chaos

Haiti-based Deux Mains shows how entrepreneurial spirit and determination can combine to support a community ravaged by disaster and poverty. Founder Julie Colombino-Billingham tells World Leather about a new...

29 April 2026

Beamhouse magic

The benefits that have accrued from the JBS Kind Leather initiative since its launch in 2019 are far-reaching.

22 April 2026

State of flux

In a world in which nothing stays the same for very long, leather is versatile enough to reflect a huge range of moods, but durable enough to provide beauty and value that last.

15 April 2026

Government support for training and recruitment

An agreement between the Italian government and the country’s leathergoods and footwear sectors to boost their search for new talent is now in place.

25 March 2026

A tale of two summits

Identical twins climbed Mera Peak wearing two eras of mountaineering kit: one in cutting-edge technical apparel, the other in a meticulous replica of George Mallory’s 1924 gear. Crockett & Jones stepped up to...

18 March 2026

Art in small spaces

After studying medicine for years, Chukwuma Ekwerike concluded that there is great beauty in the human form. He now uses his design talent to express his love for the patterns he first saw in his anatomy...

11 March 2026

Food for thought

A new digital platform for informing, training and supporting professional development in the circular economy is on the way. Improvements will come through better connections between leather and agri-food.

03 March 2026

The fruits of data

Efforts to collect supply chain and production data have begun to yield transparency, traceability and sustainability rewards for companies in the leather industry.

24 February 2026

Fair share

Leather’s circularity credentials deserve full recognition in the EU’s new Circular Economy Act. And if circularity becomes a requirement for winning public procurement contracts, rich rewards are on offer.

06 January 2026

Complex journey to biocircularity

After decades of looking after Asian manufacturing for big brands, David Solk and Irmi Kreuzer ploughed their resources and experience into creating a shoe in which every element can decompose. Initially...

23 December 2025

Unwanted hides will go far

For ten years, worker-owned cooperative Pingree Detroit has been sourcing surplus leather and making it into handmade shoes and accessories.

16 December 2025

Handmade differences

A start-up Seoul-based footwear brand is attracting attention in Europe as a result of its ability to offer huge versatility while staying true to traditional, artisan skills and the use of high-quality...

03 December 2025

Credible pathways

Non-profit organisation the Institute for Data Integrity is being launched because transparent data, and analysis of that data, are now a necessity for the global leather industry.

26 November 2025

Natural attraction

Leather industry representatives are working increasingly closely with their counterparts in sectors such as wool, silk, cotton and cashmere. A united voice from suppliers of different natural fibres stands a...

18 November 2025

EUDR ups and downs

Hopes in the leather industry in September of at least a temporary reprieve on EUDR were dashed in October. The European Commission has published a document insisting that the regulation will come into...

05 November 2025

Luxury’s pivotal moment?

As luxury sales dip, brands should find a way to monetise resale channels without impacting brand value, according to a study. A new cross-party congressional group in the US hopes to boost the sector, too.

28 October 2025

Water-positive

Luxury group Kering has released the first details of a new water strategy.

21 October 2025

Record in the bag

An original prototype of the Hermès Birkin bag has become the most expensive handbag ever to sell at auction.

30 September 2025

Still no solution to plastic pollution

An intergovernmental committee has failed, once again, to agree a treaty on ending plastic pollution. A consumer backlash seems inevitable. In response, leather has a chance to become the material of choice...

23 September 2025

Brands must buy better

After falls in the volume and value of leather that Italian tanners produced in 2024, the president of national industry body UNIC, Fabrizio Nuti, has offered his colleagues reasons for sticking with their...

17 September 2025

Added value

An article we published five years ago put at 2000% the figure for the added value that tanners and leathergoods manufacturers can give to hides. As this follow-up article shows, if you put the material in the ...

12 August 2025

Behind the leather golf glove

The concept of the circular economy is gaining momentum across a range of industries, and the production of leather for golf gloves offers a clear example of how this thinking translates into practice.

05 August 2025

Brave decisions

It is 40 years since Catalan small-skin tanning group Curtidos Codina recognised the importance of Brazil as a source of its main raw material and set up its own full-service tannery in the South American...

29 July 2025

ECCO’s strength is also its weakness

The footwear and leather group is focusing on resuming operations after a fire destroyed its wet-end processing facility in the Netherlands.

22 July 2025

Data specialists step in

Technology companies that have been down the traceability path before with the seafood sector have now launched an initiative for leather.

16 July 2025

Nothing to Hide: a decade of truth-telling

Cited by companies including Puma, which used the platform as a resource when fact-checking leather statistics, we celebrate 10 years since World Leather’s publisher launched the platform to dispel myths and...

08 July 2025

A perfect fit

Industry body COTANCE organised an event at EU Green Week 2025 to present to an influential audience leather’s credentials for earning recognition as the circular economy’s dream product.

24 June 2025

Fast-fashion thinking damages durability debate

A group that has led lengthy discussions on what constitutes product durability has chosen to ignore fact-based arguments that favour leather and other natural materials.

17 June 2025

SMEs weigh data burden

Some of the world’s most beautiful shoes are made by highly skilled artisans in small workshops.

10 June 2025

Bad for goods

This second article on the 2025 trade crisis focuses on finished product and shows that companies and consumers everywhere, including the US, will feel pain.

03 June 2025

Fund raises hopes as well as money

An initiative that WWF has launched aims to raise an initial $10 million to help fund deforestation-free sourcing of hides. It says this will just be the start.

28 May 2025

Liberation Day blues

April 2025 was a cruel month of tariffs, counter-measures, trade tensions and uncertainty.

13 May 2025

Change takes time

Carlo Briccola is president of the young business leaders’ group at Italy’s main representative body for the fashion sector, Confindustria Moda Accessori.

06 May 2025

Fix up, look sharp

The team behind Circulo, a software platform connecting brand and repairers, has published a white paper that sets out the business case for circular services. Fashion brands must find new ways to strengthen...