Leather is one of the most iconic and important materials in the fashion industry. Used for bags, accessories and ready-to-wear, leather has made a name for itself over the ages. In 2016, according to Statista, the production value of tanneries and leather goods was estimated at around €5,000 million. These characteristics make leather a material that is considered noble, durable over time and the product of cultural know-how.
However, there are questions surrounding leather, and the environmental impact of its production is recognised. However, not all practices should be rejected - quite the opposite, in fact - and the industry is, above all, set to evolve.
The trend is obviously towards more sustainable fashion, and most players are trying to be part of this responsible dynamic. But what can be done? How can we support and encourage this more virtuous dynamic in the fashion world? That's what we'll be looking at in this article.
When Fashion Green Hub and Plateau Fertile Paris asked us to organise a round table on a topic of our choice, we decided to host an Open Talk on leather, because of our expertise in this field.
Plateau Fertile Paris was set up by the Fashion Green Hub association as a third-party space to embody sustainable fashion by offering practical solutions. Here, companies can meet, exchange ideas and create projects to develop circular fashion. This is the second place created by the association, following on from Plateau Fertile Roubaix.
‘What are the different approaches to encouraging more environmentally conscious fashion in the leather industry?'
Adapta's ecosystem is composed of a large network of partners. This gives us a broad representation of the leather industry and the many profiles that shape it. We have therefore chosen our various guests to ensure that this representation is as broad as possible, with the presence of brands, workshops and companies in charge of environmental analyses.
The guests at this Open Talk
Our first guest was Louis Epaulard, co-founder of Léon Flam. Created 10 years ago, Léon Flam is a leather goods brand that puts a strong emphasis on heritage and know-how. The brand has set up its workshop in France, opting for Made In France and handmade products.
We also welcomed Virginie Nantas. Founder of Entre 2 Rétros, now known as E2R, she wanted to create a unique brand in line with this circularity dynamic. To achieve this, the brand draws on existing stocks of materials, particularly from the automobile industry. Upcycled automotive fabrics and seatbelts make up the brand's creations, in the spirit of motor sports.
More responsible fashion also involves the commitment of major groups in the fashion industry. Gauthier Bedek, head of R&D at the ERAM group, gave us an insight into industrialisation and its compatibility with sustainable fashion.
Finally, we also wanted a non-brand partner to bring a different perspective to the subject. Fairly Made is a company that enables brands to measure their environmental and social impact, by carrying out impact analyses on their behalf. Clément Aumand is Head of Analysis and our latest guest.
Adapta's founder, Virginie Ducatillon, was the host of this discussion.
More sustainable fashion, yes, but what are the requirements for brands?
We recently addressed this subject in our podcast Points de Bascule (see "Léo et Violette | Ethical style").
First and foremost, brands need to look at customers' purchasing intentions. Although a collective ecological awareness has developed, the environmental argument cannot be the only argument that motivates consumers to buy. Customers buy primarily because the product appeals to them and meets their needs in terms of function.
The whole of the offer, whether ecological or responsible, must meet concrete expectations. The aesthetics of the product are of course an essential and central aspect. Virginie shares with us her experience with E2R. Selecting materials from dead stock does not allow for continuity of textiles from one collection to the next. Virginie therefore takes a different approach to planning collections, adding leather motifs to her designs in order to create a certain uniformity. She now finds that her customers attach little importance to these differences in textiles, but buy mainly for the motif added to the bag. It is for this aesthetic aspect that her customers buy her creations.
The product must also be designed with sustainability in the foreground. Sustainability is one of the key points in the dynamic of more responsible fashion, through the life cycle of the product. Even if a product is designed and manufactured using the least polluting materials, it cannot be considered as part of a more sustainable fashion approach if its lifespan is not optimised.
Gauthier touched on these aspects in particular. Of course, this applies to all brands, but as a large, recognised group like ERAM, certain requirements must be met. In addition to quality, questions of durability and comfort must also be taken into account.
Certifications, a powerful tool for the leather industry, in the name of a more responsible fashion.
The issue of material certification came up several times during these discussions. Today's tanners clearly need these certifications if they are to last over time. Most tanneries in France are part of large luxury groups, and very few continue to operate independently, without the financial support of a large group.
But why are these certifications so important, and what is the challenge associated with them?
Generally speaking, the various certifications can be markers for the safety of tannery employees. During the many stages of the tanning process, they are exposed to certain risks through the handling of machines and certain products, or because of the repetitive nature of their actions.
These certifications also allow for a degree of environmental control, which is an integral part of more responsible fashion. The same products mentioned above can also be highly polluting, depending on how they are processed. For example, if the water used in the process is simply dumped in the natural environment, it can be very harmful to the soil. Tanneries have undergone major developments in recent years, thanks to the modernisation of water treatment systems and even the reuse of water in closed circuits.
When it comes to the leathers we offer here at Adapta, they all comply with REACH regulations. The aim of this regulation is to make the use of chemicals safer, in particular to protect consumers. In addition, many of the tanneries we work with also hold LWG certification. This is awarded to tanneries demonstrating their ability to achieve certain environmental uses and performance in the leather industry.
Louis Epaulard and its Léon Flam brand attach great importance to all these certifications, in order to produce creations in line with the values that the brand wishes to represent.
Moreover, these certification issues apply not only to tanneries but also to workshops. ISO 14000 certification, for example, provides a framework for environmental management. Social and safety management standards also contribute to more responsible fashion.
Industry and the circular approach
The revaluation processes are apparently easier in smaller structures. This ‘truth’ should of course be taken with a certain amount of caution, as it depends on each brand. In the case of Virginie Nantas and the E2R brand, for example, certain difficulties can be encountered. The question of storage, logistics and restocking comes up again and again with each new product. These difficulties are largely offset by the brand's unique proposition, its willingness to make a commitment to the environment, and the way its products are received by customers.
But more generally, it's easier to integrate responsible approaches into these small structures.
Gauthier Bedek tells us about the reality within a group like ERAM, for example. The group launched a number of projects and set up various initiatives because of the environmental reality.
One of these was a shoe leasing system launched with Bocage. A seemingly risky gamble, because to make this system viable, the shoes have to be returned in good enough condition to be offered to customers again. If this is not the case, the product's life cycle is shortened. The feedback from this experiment was more than positive, and although leather is a material that can bend, particularly in the foot, customers were more vigilant and paid particular attention to the care of these rented products than if they had bought them.
In addition to company structure and hierarchy, there is also more to think about from a legal point of view. Regulations are constantly evolving, making it necessary to take more considered decisions. The group therefore spends a great deal of time monitoring regulations, in order to understand the practices and expectations of the authorities.
However, we also know that the major actors in the fashion industry are those who should be most concerned by responsible fashion, because of their greater impact on society.
The ERAM Group is also involved in other industrial circularity projects, alongside other major actors in the French fashion industry. These include Zalando, Décathlon France and Revalorem. Together with CETIA, these 4 players have launched a European innovation programme on the recyclability of shoes on an industrial scale, and more specifically their soles. The programme, called Reshoes, involves setting up an industrial process for detecting materials, removing the soles, sorting them and finally preparing the materials ready for recycling.
Proof that it is possible, by working together, to set up large-scale recycling processes.
Impact measurement to promote more responsible fashion
We need to take a step back from impact measurements.
Firstly, it is important to bear in mind that there is no universal methodology for measuring the environmental impact of a product. Methodologies vary and can therefore give rise to certain discrepancies.
Two main methodologies are used today. The first is the European methodology known as PEF (Product Environmental Footprint). This methodology meets a need for standardisation and reliability of environmental data.
The second is ADEME's French methodology, which assigns an ABCDE rating. It is now standardised throughout France. This is the method used by our guest Clément and the Fairly Made teams, to measure the impact of the material over its entire life cycle.
It's also important to realise that these methodologies operate on their own databases. Some values are of course difficult to measure, making them and the results flawed.
In addition to these external companies carrying out environmental impact assessments, they can also be carried out internally, providing an initial overview. For example, Gauthier Bedek mentioned an Innovation Lab in the ERAM group, focusing on 3 main strategic issues. Firstly, he mentioned performance measurement, through LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and, more generally, the environmental footprint of leather. He then discusses measures of durability and repair, both of which take into account the product's lifespan.
Generally speaking, what work is required to measure an environmental impact?
You have to go back up the entire value chain to gather all the information you need to measure it. The starting point is therefore the brand carrying out its life cycle analysis, which gives the names of its suppliers. These same suppliers share information about the partners involved upstream, and so on.
A form of education is therefore necessary, particularly with suppliers. Clément talks about a real collaborative effort, to provide them with new tools to help the leather industry move forward. Among these tools, Fairly Made's future platform will make it easy to share traceability information, so that suppliers don't have to deal with complex management tasks.
Conclusions of the Open Talk
No matter what the scale, solutions for recycling materials are within everyone's reach, and each one meets the needs of each structure.
There are many ways to make your project part of a more sustainable fashion approach, and our guests told us about some of them. Virginie Nantas and E2R have decided to turn to automobile fabrics that have already been produced; Louis Epaulard and Léon Flam are using their experience to think upstream about industrialisation, but also about optimising the cutting of leather and how to use these scraps afterwards through recycling, for example; and Gauthier Bedek and the Eram Group are committed to industrial-scale recyclability projects.
Our commitment to eco-responsibility begins even before the manufacturing stage, and solutions such as the one we offer at Adapta are having a positive impact. We are working every day to ensure that our solution for recycling materials from dead stock one day becomes the norm and no longer a marginal solution.
In addition, actors outside the manufacturing process are more important than ever. Organisations such as the Comité Stratégique de Filière Mode et Luxe (Strategic Committee for the Fashion and Luxury Sector) oversee collective actions that are co-financed by the public and private sectors. Concrete actions for the leather industry are set out in the latest contract, which focuses on 4 main areas: training, business support, digital literacy and, above all, sustainable development. The last contract was signed by two ministers, Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy, and Franck Riester, Minister for Culture, underlining the importance of the public authorities.
Private companies, such as Fairly Made, are also key players in encouraging more sustainable fashion by helping brands to assess their impact.
Rethinking our processes through the prism of more responsible fashion no longer seems to be an option, but an obvious one. Each player is gradually making its own contribution to building a truly sustainable fashion industry. All this can only be achieved through the collaboration of all these actors.
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