Leather and the consumer

Content published by: Leather Naturally

New research uncovers the consumer understanding of leather and its place in a society committed to making better choices for the environment. The pandemic and graphic images showing the effects of climate change are having an impact on consumer behaviour. Attitudes and habits are changing at pace and so Leather UK, Leather Naturally and the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) have collaborated in the commissioning of research to better understand consumer knowledge around leather and its origins as a by-product of the food industry.

The result is a complete document that answers different questions that can help to better understand the current consumer mentality. Some of the topics discussed are the following.

What is ‘vegan leather’?

The lack of knowledge was surprising. More than half (54%) or the 2,000 respondents did not know what ‘vegan leather’ is made from, but 74% agreed that ‘it should be easy to see what I am buying and that labelling should not be misleading.’

Where does leather come from?

Leather is a by-product of the meat industry, which if not used would go to waste, however only 24% of those surveyed were aware of this fact.

Leather is valued for its quality and longevity

What is clear is that consumers who own and use leather value it for its positive benefits, with 67% saying it could be trusted to last a lifetime and 53% citing its comfort and practicality as reasons to buy.

The move to slow fashion

The report also investigates the world leather exists in, by exploring emerging purchase behaviours as well as attitudes to new forms of consumption, such as rental and pre-loved, currently making headlines in fashion, homeware and other industries. It examines a new age of thrift, a ‘make do and mend’ culture and the encouraging signs of a move away from fast, disposable fashion and consumer goods.

These trends bode well for a high-quality material like leather, which lasts a lifetime.

The document can be downloaded HERE.

And you can read the original content HERE.

First massive online Tanning Technician Course in Europe

Original content posted by: Lederpiel.

The A3 Leather Innovation Center of the University of Lleida (UdL), located in Igualada (Barcelona), offers a new massive online Tanning Technician Course, the first of its kind in Europe. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are online courses aimed at a large number of participants through the Internet according to the principle of «open and massive» education.

Tanning Technician training consists of 25 hours of virtual classes and 25 face-to-face teaching hours. It has been launched after a pilot test carried out in several companies in the leather sector in Igualada, which has made it possible to detect their needs and create a specific action protocol to cover them. In this training, general and specific knowledge will be acquired in the fields of leather production processes, leather chemistry, wet processing operations, mechanics, finishing, leather quality, sustainability through technologies clean available and monitoring of risks.

Skills4Smart TCLF
The A3 Center promotes this course within the framework of the European project Skills4Smart Textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (TCLF) Industries 2030 together with Euratex, an organization that works to achieve a favorable environment for the textile and clothing sector within the European Union (EU), and other European partners. The UdL and the Igualada’s research center are 2 of the 115 institutions, organizations and companies that have recently signed the TCLF Competence Pact, committing to improve the attractiveness of the textile, fashion, leather and footwear sectors and to invest in the retraining of workers, integrating ecological and digital skills.

From the beginning of this year 2022, the European Commission will offer the signatories of the Pact for Skills to benefit from collaboration at EU, national and regional level and, in particular, access to networks, knowledge, guidance and resource centers. One of the objectives of this pact is to design and deploy courses that promote the latest technologies, tools and digital skills and encourage activities of durability, repair and waste management (green skills), in particular circular design skills. It is in this line that the Tanning Technician course has been promoted, which will be taught online and with internships in companies in Igualada.

You can read the original post HERE.