International Leather Maker

After a visit to the wonderful Silk Roads Exhibition in the British Museum, it is impossible to underestimate the value of trade in progressing all aspects of society. From human wellbeing and cultural advancement to increasing wealth, trade has played a fundamental role. For a thousand years, the Silk Roads transported goods, technology, ideas and […]

Germany, plus most of the western world, was shocked when Volkswagen announced a plan to close three plants in Germany. It may be a negotiation ploy to get something less through their complex board structure, but clearly radical changes are needed. Simply speaking, the volume carmakers in the west have got their strategy wrong in […]

Leather is versatile. Different animals and the skill of the tanner mean many types of leather can be made for an infinity of end uses, many overlapping. As well as the physical properties of the leather, the sensitive tanner adjusts the aesthetics to suit wide variations in customer preference. Leather is curiously popular with many […]

When politicians struggle, they regularly blame the lack of voter understanding and demand better “education”. For most of the last century this was the leather industry’s position. There were two problems. It was not the lack of education but the message that was wrong plus the leather sector never tried to get any collective message […]

One of the big trends of the 20th century is urbanisation. After centuries where the urban population was 5%, it had grown to 30% by 1950 and, in 2010, passed 50%. Governments approve of urbanisation since it accelerates GDP growth. The leather industry must find ways to succeed in the modern city. Urban societies have a […]

With luck, the latest Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) design competition is making a difference with its outstanding African element. This competition, set up a few years ago by the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA), has been a big success and gets the leather message into fashion and design colleges throughout the world. […]

A highlight of my career was being invited to the U.S. last year to give the John Arthur Wilson Lecture. I returned to Leeds University to discover Wilson had started there exactly 50 years before I did. His work there with Procter was about understanding the science to help leather renew itself for the modern […]

After the recent ACLE fair in Shanghai, the industry should arrive this week in Milan for Lineapelle, hopefully in an optimistic mood. While there is some overlap, the clients are different so there will be a lot to learn in a few days. Allow me to add a suggestion. After decades of denial about the […]

Amid so much gloom, there is no doubt that the All-China Leather Exhibition (ACLE) in Shanghai was a great success and a morale booster for all who attended. I was sorry not to be there to absorb the atmosphere. I have been privileged to watch the transformation of China over the last four decades, having […]

Doing business in the leather industry requires third party audits. Your tannery will have signed up for some and others are required by customers. Invariably, the tanner pays for these and they are expensive. Yet, it is vital that a system of external audits succeeds and is workable for tanneries if leather is to establish […]