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As the leather industry grapples with the question of how it can sustainably play its part to meet ambitious climate and other targets set at a global scale, it is imperative that individual companies in the supply chain focus their efforts in a way that is highly localised to their specific circumstances.

Textile Exchange (TE) has accepted the official ISO 15115 definition of leather, and manufacturers, brands and retailers must make it incumbent on themselves to educate consumers the difference between genuine leather and faux leather, PU leather, mushroom leather, pineapple leather, or any other plant-based leather which cannot be categorised as 'leather'. So, what does industry think?

The commercialisation of the tech collaboration between fashion-forward Italy’s PureDenim and alpha geek Israel’s Sonovia to minimise use of water and enhance dye durability is expected in H2/2023. A texfash.com report.

Natural Fiber Welding— the name says much about NFW’s vision for a world that will be material-rich and plastic-free. The people behind it claim to be “obsessed with leaving the world better than we found it” and so they are on a mission to invent and “manufacture shockingly sustainable materials” from plants. The CEO & Founder of NFW Luke Haverhals tells texfash.com how he is leading his company “a moonshot systems-level shift away” from petroleum-derived products and toxic chemistries.

When cutting-edge technology is applied to fruit waste it creates an all-new world of revolutionary, premium biomaterials — where performance meets possibility. The technology, modelled on nature’s own design, aims for an animal-free, more sustainable future — one cell at a time. And doing this is Mexico-headquartered Polybion as it moves from linear to circular, leftover to constructive, and from leather to Celium. texfash.com talks to Gabriela Irastorza Dragonné, the Head of Communications and Culture at Polybion to know more.The first part of an interview.

The Taiwanese leather sector dates back to more than 70 years and it was in the 1990s that the tanneries began to relocate and set up factories in Thailand, Vietnam, Mainland China and other Southeast Asian countries. Today it produces about 45-60 million square feet of leather per month, exporting almost 98% to some of the best-known footwear makers. Thomas CJ Yu, President of the Taiwanese International Leather Association (TILA) in conversation with texfash.com.

The urge to gift an enduring piece of Punjab’s legacy, and the lack of it, led to the setting up of Aab Label, a contemporary brand that draws inspiration from the hand-embroidered heritage craft of phulkari. Founder Shreya Mehra shares her story.

Brexit in the UK has caused major issues with sourcing labour, added regulatory and import/export burdens, increased input costs and reduced customer confidence. Dr Kerry Senior, Director, Leather UK, a membership-based trade organisation with the remit to represent, promote and protect the leather industry, elaborates.

The mission of the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF) is to support the global leather industry to learn, to improve and to protect the planet for future generations. Towards this objective its latest offering is the Partner Profiles and QR Codes which link up the SLF and a company’s website, and the company’s Transparency Dashboard. In a brief conversation with texfash.com, Deborah Taylor, Managing Director at SLF elaborates on the initiatives.

Vegan, completely biodegradable and produced with bio-fabrication, AMSilk’s products are environment friendly and make a significant contribution to a future zero-waste society. Ulrich Scherbel, Managing Director at AMSilk, the world’s leading supplier of innovative high-performance biotech materials, talks to texfash.com about how he aims to make smart performing biotech materials part of everyday life.