March 4, 2025

Recovery or growth, is there a choice?

My resolution for 2025 for my ILM comments is to try and think a bit differently and remember that the more you learn. the more you need to learn. That element of reflection appears to be what is needed at this moment in the leather industry.

After surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, there was every reason to believe that a positive period would follow with the opportunity to grow back to fuller volumes, sound cash flow and better margins. Russia’s untimely invasion of Ukraine killed those hopes.

It pushed up inflation, disturbed supply chains and led to scarcity of some foods and supplies: sad to say all predictable and deliberate. Other trends like climate change continue to make matters worse. So nearly all leather markets are in the doldrums. There are two good actions to take.

One is never to reduce your marketing expenditure. A lot of tanners spend little or nothing on genuine marketing, so this is sometimes just ignored. In fact, this is the moment for every stakeholder to uncomplainingly pay the subscription to Leather Naturally and push it to the next level. Leather industry marketing is dramatically underfunded compared with competitive materials, by hundreds of millions of dollars, yet on its small budget and staffed by volunteers Leather Naturally has had a big impact over the past five years.

It has led in writing a new leather narrative supported by clearly explained and attractively presented science and it has worked to successfully improve industry collaboration to get the message through to key journalists, governments and others around the world.

With regenerative agriculture in its many formats, and new methods to reduce cattle methane some of the pressure has slipped away from livestock side while the consumer awareness of the damage to the environment being caused by microplastics has opened a window of opportunity for responsibly made leather to push its natural origins, longevity and sustainability in its widest sense.

Put your weight behind Leather Naturally

So now is not the moment to back off, to reduce or delay marketing spend. Renew your Leather Naturally membership or join if you are not a member. Do not be one of those people who like to complain a lot on social media and offer one of those simple solutions that does not withstand scrutiny. The industry is a team, or it is nothing. Some of our trade associations are doing good work also, and many have a long track record of excellence, but those doing the best work are collaborating with Leather Naturally and others. To change markets is global business which one company, one country or one region cannot do alone.

This is the era of collaboration

And those trade organisations have themselves mighty battles to deal with. Misguided legislation such as the EU moves on forestry, the abuse of the term leather to confuse consumers, pushing best practice for manufacturing and waste management, fighting for proper staff training and recruitment and so much more. Keep paying those dues too. That is a given; but only worth it if everyone promotes collaboration.

Whatever is going on in geopolitics, this is the era of collaboration. Without collaboration we lose potential synergies and hubris takes command. Leather is beautiful, powerful and perfect for the modern world, but our industry remains a weak member in a complex supply network. This will only be changed by collaboration.

And collaboration matters in the second area to maintain in a downturn; investment in new product development. The days of isolationist invention are over. Collaboration and new partnerships are essential. The post-pandemic consumer is not the pre-pandemic consumer. The differences stretching between the Boomer Generation and the Generation Z and those in between are greater than ever seen in history. Changes in travel, communication and education have made it so.

Leather used to evolve to keep up but like many of our global politicians we seem to have ossified and become nostalgic. Good marketing staff and great production and technical staff are needed to innovate, plus external collaborations.

Is a reluctance to advance going to be the slow death of leather? Better to join Leather Naturally and give the industry the marketing it deserves unencumbered by narrow or localised thinking. And free the tannery staff to work better together and collaborate with others in new ways to make truly exciting leathers for the world of today and tomorrow.

Michael Redwood

Leather chemist, writer, and advisor on responsible leather manufacturing and material strategy. This article was originally written for ILM.