International Leather Maker

Apparently, a lot of quite senior executives still think that communications is all that marketing does, but it is in only one small, but important, part of any marketing course. Business objectives, strategy, culture, consumer behaviour, market segments, target markets and the competitive landscape all fit in any marketing studies, along with many other areas. […]

“James said ‘I got these sofas in the 90s’. My reply ‘That’s now vintage!’”. This conversation between a colleague and her husband, which she reported on her social media, begs a question on the whole life value of the things we buy, and how they should be viewed and even defined during their lifetime. In […]

Two weeks ago, I sat on a panel discussing leather at De Montfort University in Leicester. The Chairperson asked questions directly to the panellists, including one about why the leather industry had produced the Leather Manifesto for COP26. Given that time was limited, I answered the question briefly although one of the actual authors of the […]

On March 5, I participated in Sustainability ROX’ Sustainable Design event at De Montfort University in Leicester. Students, designers and others mixed with industrialists and academics at the cutting edge of sustainable design and materials research. It is exciting to see leather involved and hopefully one more sign that the material world is embracing leather […]

Before the end of the decade, we expect to see people on the moon and, not long after, small communities being established to live and work there. These will not all be professional astronauts but increasingly ordinary people adapting to life in a totally artificial environment. What will their equipment look like? Previous visits to […]

If you want to attract a bit of controversy and a lot of readers in the leather industry, produce angry articles and speeches. Label every type of biomaterial or biopolymer as plastic and therefore an enemy of leather to be attacked without restraint. Leave no room for ambiguity, compromise or the actual facts. Yet cellophane, […]

Anyone interested in major global sports will have noted two recent events – the resignation of Jürgen Klopp as Coach of Liverpool Football Club on account of “running out of energy” and the charges against the head of the F1 Red Bull team Christian Horner over “controlling” behaviour towards his staff. In separate ways, both […]

There is too much careless talk these days. A decade ago, there were increasingly angry comments about opponents talking about “vegan leather” and using all manner of inaccurate terms. There was also rising concern that the leather industry had itself become part of the problem. A wander round any trade show saw signage and promotional […]

It is not so much a new normal as a totally new world. 2024 is clearly going to be a difficult year, dominated by the fallout from geopolitics. Geopolitics impacts almost everything and ripples through every aspect of society and business in every corner of the world. Whether a mere ripple becomes a tsunami is […]

One of the reasons that brands originally came into existence, forgotten in the history of capitalism, was trust. Brands were companies that had earned the trust of their customers and could be relied on to always sell the same quality. Consumers could be certain what they were getting was exactly as promised. In an economic […]