
Getting your philosophy right
Mike Redwood reflects on Royal Smit & Zoon’s 200th anniversary dinner, and the company’s business philosophy.
Read more...Mike Redwood reflects on Royal Smit & Zoon’s 200th anniversary dinner, and the company’s business philosophy.
Read more...Mike Redwood discusses the great benefit of activities like the APLF Design-a-Bag Competition in helping people to discover leather and fall in love with the material.
Read more...ILM Deputy Editor Tom Hogarth asks why alternative biomaterials are choosing to target leather for market share and public perception.
Read more...On a global scale, things have only gotten more concerning since the Covid-19 pandemic, and the leather industry must keep an eye on the issues, explains Mike Redwood.
Read more...Mike Redwood discusses the need for more women in the leather industry and the opportunities available.
Read more...Two weeks ago, the UK based Leather Conservation Centre held its first three-day residential course for conservators since December 2019. It was a big moment as this normally annual course attracts conservators from Museums all round the world.
Read more...Mike Redwood looks to innovative figures for inspiration on how the leather industry can take its messaging to younger generations.
Read more...Mike Redwood examines the reasons behind a lack of leather knowledge in the general population and the efforts in the industry to combat this problem.
Read more...The “one-off” APLF Dubai fair is over, and it has thrown up many new questions. Where is the best future home for an international leather industry trade fair? Will we be in Hong Kong in 2023, Dubai or both? There are pros and cons for each, writes ILM Content Director Martin Ricker.
Read more...As APLF Dubai gets underway, Mike Redwood acknowledges the efforts of key industry figures who paved the way for the leather industry as it is today.
Read more...Industry Consultant Catherine Money discusses the facts that contradict the flawed thinking of animal rights activists when it comes to the kangaroo industry in Australia.
Read more...The war in Ukraine has driven other issues out of the news and redrawn the priorities for business, writes Mike Redwood, but one item that must stay on the agenda for tanners is climate change.
Read more...There are many reasons for us all to be pulled apart in 2022, but that means the leather industry needs to fight for unity more than ever before, writes Deputy Editor Tom Hogarth.
Read more...The leather industry desperately needs more cooperation and unity, especially when the world at large is so fractured, Mike Redwood comments.
Read more...Dr Mike Redwood examines the potential fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the latest event to shake the world's, and leather's, global trade foundations.
Read more...ILM Deputy Editor Tom Hogarth ponders whether globalisation is at an end for the leather industry and what the future might look like.
Read more...Mike Redwood explains why we actually need more livestock in the world, albeit with better and more regenerative management.
Read more...Mike Redwood discusses how leather, particularly luxury goods, has held out against mass production practices in favour of tradition and artisan skill.
Read more...Mike Redwood reviews the situation in Bangladesh and the need for the global leather industry to work in unison to support each other and protect leather’s image.
Read more...Mike Redwood compares the state of the world and the state of leather and finds some common ground for the industry to look to as we promote leather in 2022.
Read more...ILM Deputy Editor Tom Hogarth discusses the topic of regenerative agriculture, and the murky waters of an issue that often is not as well defined as it could be.
Read more...Mike Redwood discusses the APLF’s move to Dubai for 2022, and the wider indications of a shift away from China’s hold on the leather industry in recent times.
Read more...Mike Redwood recalls some of the toughest points in his career, when the necessity of leather work and omnipresent geopolitical turmoil put him and colleagues in dangerous and sometimes fatal situations.
Read more...Mike Redwood reviews some of the failures in leather’s past, examples of how innovation is never as easy as it sounds, and what this means for the industry today.
Read more...ILM Deputy Editor Tom Hogarth examines the challenges we have ahead in 2022 and explains why we have so many more opportunities to take advantage of.
Read more...Mike Redwood addresses the false claims of vegan materials, which often rely on the use of fossil fuel-based materials, and why leather should be able to stand alone with its many benefits.
Read more...As we start what will be another challenging year, Mike Redwood looks to the positive moves the leather industry can make and presents us with two New Year resolutions.
Read more...In his final comment of 2021, Mike Redwood looks at sheep and examines all of the benefits they have offered us throughout history, from leather to wool to felt.
Read more...In his latest comment, Mike Redwood explores the concept that leather has always been a positive influence on society and only continues to become more beneficial over alternatives for the environment.
Read more...The Bangladesh Environment Ministry is now pursuing action to close the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate until sufficient water treatment facilities can be put in place but this decision would cause more problems than it could solve. Tom Hogarth reviews the situation.
Read more...Mike Redwood explains that now is the time for the industry to cooperate with the supply chain and drive innovation to show the world that leather is the right material for the future.
Read more...Mike Redwood explains that as our post-Covid world is rapidly changing, we must be properly supporting and enticing younger generations in the leather industry.
Read more...While much of the world waited and hoped during COP26 that the world leaders present would make some noticeable commitment to correcting the climate change path we have all found ourselves heading towards, the leather industry waited to see if methane would be a priority in those commitments and how tightly leather would be linked to the issue. Tom Hogarth breaks down the fallout and what we can expect going forward.
Read more...The fact that leather lasts longer than competitive materials is one of its key strengths, says Mike Redwood.
Read more...Mike Redwood expresses his disappointment in world leader’s efforts at the recent COP26 summit in Scotland, but highlights the clear opportunity for the leather industry to show its commitment to a greener future.
Read more...The value of exposing monarchs, Presidents, Prime Ministers and other key individuals to the benefits of leather cannot be over-emphasised, explains Dr Mike Redwood.
Read more...Our industry has not always been unified in the way it needs to be but getting a leather manifesto out ahead of COP26 is a great start, says Mike Redwood.
Read more...The world of the Internet has invaded our lives in the last eighteen months. The webinar, for example, has consistently presented useful material in a timely way and can still be valid as we learn to live in equilibrium with Covid-19 by making content available for those who missed the live session.
Read more...From Moroccan leather to The Hudson Bay Company, our industry has been deeply integrated into world trade from the start of shipping. Leather is not a commodity, the complexity of its raw materials and the leathers that can be produced from each is staggering and has resulted in many strong intercontinental shipping routes.
Read more...Overconsumption is driving us towards an extinction event. It is filling landfills that we do not have space for, consuming resources at an unprecedented rate and using virgin materials, made from fossil fuels, in ridiculous quantities.
Read more...Dale Carnegie said: “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity." Carnegie died in 1955 and was most famous for his self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People, published in 1936.
Read more...Performance, sustainability and beauty. These three words have been embedded in leather for a million years in one form or another. Not a few thousand years as we often say, not tens of thousands but almost certainly one million years of leather.
Read more...A recent article in the online magazine The Conversation makes an important point about the teaching of sustainability in our fashion schools; that it must begin with universities if the fashion industry is to change.
Read more...We are now in a world where living with the pandemic is normal and resilience in business matters more than ever. Companies must be able to adapt quickly to the unexpected. Anything can happen from cash flow interruption to worker absence, supply chain turmoil to end user revolt, sudden lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Read more...For the last few weeks, our focus has been on Afghanistan. Coming to terms how it has impacted on our own families and friends over the past 20 years as well struggling with the implications for the future after the global impact of President Trump and Covid-19.
Read more...Legitimate or not, the fashion industry’s eco-friendly campaigns have often left leather behind, but what can we do about it?
Read more...Planting trees still makes up around half of the carbon offset business. The fact that even after the young trees are established, they will need to remain standing somewhere between 50 to 100 years to absorb the levels of CO2 they were planted for means that this is not an easy solution.
Read more...While much of the world seems set on moving on from pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions, constraints on international travel and shipping continue to affect how the leather industry conducts business on a global scale.
Read more...It has long been my hope that the leather industry would make more of the fact that it employs large numbers of people, and that the leather produced creates employment for not only many more but for huge numbers throughout the supply chain.
Read more...Over the past few weeks, I’ve attended a wedding and been on holiday outside of my own country. Both events felt both familiar and alien at the same time. Blowing kisses to friends and family replaced a hug and fist bumps replaced a handshake with strangers meeting for the first time. This is life after the double jab and we’re getting used to the new world of living with Covid-19 while getting on with our lives after lockdown.
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