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Conflict Inside the Leather Industry?
Export manager of small skins tannery Bodin-Joyeux, Thomas Eberhard, said on social media at the end of October that he has been struck by a change in the tone of the discussions he has with customers in the high-end fashion industry these days.
“When I started taking part in fashion industry discussions like these in 2001, I was regarded as something of a curiosity, perhaps as a necessary evil,” Mr Eberhard said. “Even if leather was viewed at the time as a raw material that offered interesting margins, and you would see three or four different types of garment made from leather at every runway show, it was not the norm then to come across a style team dedicated to leather. But everything has changed.”
Mr Eberhard said that the leather industry today is, paradoxically, subject to more debate and criticism than ever before, most notably over questions surrounding humanity’s treatment of animals. “These new and understandable concerns have created unique opportunities,” he said, “for exchanges with people from all walks of life with an interest in luxury brands or in fashion in general.
Eberhard ended by saying he had watched with interest the enthusiasm with which footwear and accessory brands were pledging financial and moral support for companies that are developing new upcycled or recycled materials.
But at the end of discussion he asked: “But what could be more up to date than taking a waste product from the food industry and working with it to make unique, timeless and characterful products? This is the very essence of tanning.”
Information by leatherbiz.com
Dear customers, readers and leather fans, what do you think about all this? Please feel free to share your opinion in comments down below.
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