Mike Redwood
Columnist
International Leather Maker
For a while, I worked in the golf industry where I became interested in how long a golf glove lasted before it was replaced. Decisions about end-of-life and the process involved in replacement were matters I frequently used to question golfers and golf groups about.
So, what was the result? First, an average leather golf glove should last 18 rounds, but it varies wildly based on the type of grip a golfer has on their clubs and the way the club is held during the swing. Sometimes, but rarely, a glove is replaced because it was worn out, but often a new one is purchased for a club tournament or special event, and the old one gets left in the bag for future practice rounds.
Talking to consumers and trying to understand their perspectives and perceptions about products through how they go about buying them, using them and finally, discarding them, is essential. As leather is a component, it is not easy for tanners to learn if there is a failure such as colour bleeding or tear strength. Unless they go searching, learning more is hard.
When Walter Sahel set the world off on its current entry into serious circular economy thinking, his first rule was to extend the life of the product and thus slow the requirement for new materials to be mined or extracted from the earth. Every extra year of use had a huge impact on carbon footprints, and extensive repair of products, as necessary, could employ 4% of the workforce in roles that robots will struggle with.
Sadly, the discovery of cheap labour in emerging countries, allied with equally cheap plastics, overwhelmed such thoughtfulness. Brands felt the call to take advantage of a gullible global citizenry; not to spend the same amount, but to buy even more items and not keep them as long. And forget repair; ditch and buy new.
At long last as the world continues its demographic slowdown, this is now under sever scrutiny, no more so than from our younger generations, and I recommend anyone interested in longevity in textiles, listen to my friend Charles Ross in an interview on the podcast ‘No Ordinary Cloth’ by Mili Tharakan (episode dated 7th January).
I have known Charles Ross for about 20 years and although he is a textiles person, and outdoor textiles too, rather than leather, his thoughts translate well for the leather industry. In it, he talks about what he sees as the four ‘Dimensions of Durability’:
- Physical durability: When they wear out
- Emotional durability: The most influential factor in determining if an item is truly durable
- Cultural durability: When things are no longer cool
- Fit durability: As children grow up or the adult body changes with age.
While there are academic studies in this area, Ross’ approach is built on experience with the world’s top sustainable brands and experts in the outdoor sector.
Leather’s story delivers emotional durability more reliably than any other material
His insight that “emotional durability is the most influential factor” applies with particular force to leather, where physical durability is a given for most products, fit durability is often irrelevant, and cultural durability, for most applications, is not a threat. This leaves emotional durability as the true competitive advantage—and the narrative of leather’s material properties of patina development, repairability and investment deliver emotional durability more reliably than any other material.
A listen to the broadcast, and I am sorry, but it is over an hour long, articulates why leather’s traditional craft-based economics—creating objects people want to own forever, repair continuously, and pass down generationally—is actually the most sophisticated response to the durability challenge Ross identifies.
He emphasises that brands must shift from selling “more stuff” to “less stuff” through repair, resale and rental models. For leather, this insight is particularly potent because:
- Leather’s physical durability supports repair and resale economics better than textiles – a leather jacket is often still worth repairing after 20 years; a polyester one is not. I still wear a green nubuck calfskin coat to Yeovil Town Football Club that I first obtained in 1995: I see no reason why it will not last many years yet.
- Leather’s emotional durability through patina creates active preference for used items, not just tolerance of them. A patinated leather briefcase is more desirable than a pristine one; a worn textile garment is typically less desirable.
- Leather has cultural durability immunity in most end uses, since leather goods do not require constant replacement to maintain cultural relevance, unlike fast-fashion textiles or even much outdoor gear.
- Storytelling advantage: As Ross notes about Hiut Denim’s maker-signed jeans, introducing the maker creates emotional durability. Leather goods, with their craft heritage, maker identification, repair narratives and visible aging, have inherent storytelling advantages.
In fashion and the outdoors, cultural durability is a constant threat. In that context, Ross correctly identifies emotional durability as “the most influential factor” because it must overcome powerful cultural pressures. For leather, the hierarchy may invert: For functional applications such as automotive, furniture and leather goods, physical durability and emotional durability dominate, while cultural durability becomes secondary or irrelevant. For the smaller garment segment of leather production, all four dimensions matter—but leather’s properties of superior durability, positive aging and premium cost-point encouraging classic designs mitigate cultural durability challenges that textiles cannot escape.
Many leather items follow timeless design principles more than trend cycles. A quality leather briefcase remains culturally acceptable whether purchased in 1995 or 2025, because the function and aesthetic transcend fashion cycles.
Certainly, cultural durability operates unevenly across leather applications and we do find cultural durability vulnerability where fashion is image-based in some leather footwear and accessories. A dated fashion certainly creates genuine challenges even for well-made items and I have no doubt that more than a few readers of this will have out-of-fashion leather items in the closet hoping for an old fashion to return.
For leather companies pursuing repair services, resale platforms and circular models, the Ross framework suggests these strategies align exceptionally well with leather’s material properties. A leather repair and resale service leverages all four dimensions of durability simultaneously, whereas similar services for textiles must fight against cultural obsolescence pressures. But we do not have enough of them.
Sensory experiences as the new communication pillars for leather
We well know that leather succeeds beyond functionality and operates symbolically – it is not just about physical properties but about communication of social meanings, identity construction and participation in cultural narratives. When developing new products, some time should be spent on how to extend the emotional durability and this could well involve enlarging the role of sensory experience – smell, touch, patina. Consumer attachment to leather requires treating these qualities not as accidental byproducts but as core product features, design principles and strategic communication pillars.
mike@internationalleathermaker.com
You can find Dr Mike Redwood across social media at @michaelredwood.
Publication and Copyright of “Redwood Column” remains with the publishers of International Leather Maker. The articles cannot be reproduced in any way without the express permission of the publisher. The views are those of the author and not necessarily those of ILM.
