Each February and September, Lineapelle in Italy’s Milan brings collectively tanneries, producers of equipment, materials and artificial supplies — all key gamers within the world provide chain for vogue, luxurious and design — with a particular emphasis on the leather-based trade. Courtesy of Lineapelle
By Park Han-sol
MILAN, Italy — At first look, leather-based and sustainability could appear to be an unlikely pairing. However, in latest a long time, the leather-based trade has been striving to redefine the fabric inside an environmental context, adopting methods to additional reduce its ecological footprint.
At its core, leather-based is a byproduct of the meat trade. Tanneries repurpose uncooked cattle and sheep hides — byproducts of meals manufacturing that may in any other case find yourself in landfills — into fibers used for purses, footwear, upholstery and automotive interiors. Even the waste and scraps from leather-based manufacturing discover new life afterward in agriculture as fertilizers and in cosmetics as collagen.
In Italy, which produces 1 / 4 of the world’s leather-based by worth, sustainability in tanneries hinges on full provide chain traceability. The Institute of High quality Certification for the Leather-based Sector (ICEC) certification requires that tanneries observe all the things from the nation of origin of the hides to the precise farms and slaughterhouses concerned, making certain moral and clear administration of uncooked supplies.
In the meantime, some suppliers are even shifting past conventional animal hides altogether, exploring progressive alternate options like mushroom roots.
The 104th version of Lineapelle, working from Sept. 17 to 19, options 1,259 exhibitors from 43 international locations on the Fiera Milano exhibition heart. Korea Occasions photograph by Park Han-sol
At Lineapelle, one can catch a glimpse of the world’s newest tendencies and the way forward for greener leather-based manufacturing and processing. Courtesy of Lineapelle
And it’s within the metropolis of Milan that one can catch a glimpse of the world’s newest tendencies and the way forward for greener leather-based manufacturing and processing.
Twice a yr, in February and September, Italy’s vogue capital hosts Lineapelle, a outstanding commerce present that brings collectively tanneries, producers of equipment, materials and artificial supplies — all key gamers within the world provide chain for vogue, luxurious and design.
Guests view curated samples of leather-based, materials and artificial supplies at Lineapelle. Courtesy of Lineapelle
Veneto-based tannery Gruppo Dani launched its Olivae Assortment final yr, which makes use of olive mill wastewater in processing its leather-based. Courtesy of Gruppo Dani
The present 104th version, working from Sept. 17 to 19, options 1,259 exhibitors from 43 international locations on the Fiera Milano exhibition heart.
Among the many family-run Italian tanneries which have sustainability on the coronary heart of their philosophy is Gruppo Dani. Based in 1950 by Angelo Dani in Veneto, the corporate processes leather-based for attire, footwear, upholstery, saddlery and sensible gadgets.
A spotlight of its presence at Lineapelle is the Olivae Assortment, launched final yr.
“All of those leathers right here come from two sorts of waste — uncooked hides, that are leftovers of the meals trade, and olive mill wastewater,” Alessia Zaramella, Gruppo Dani’s senior advertising and communication officer, instructed The Korea Occasions. “Italy is well-known for each leather-based and olive oil and we like to offer a second life to those wastes.”
Gruppo Dani is one in all Italy’s few remaining full-cycle tanneries, she added, which means that each step — from sourcing recent uncooked hides from Europe to the ultimate ending — is finished throughout the Veneto Leather-based District. This permits the corporate to carefully monitor its CO2 emissions and vitality consumption.
In collaboration with chemical producer L’Officina Chimica and Italy’s Solofra Tanning District, Milan-based R&D heart D-house Laboratorio Urbano has reimagined leather-based scraps and waste powders into ornamental inside tiles. Courtesy of D-house Laboratorio Urbano
3D-printed equipment created from tannery waste / Courtesy of D-house Laboratorio Urbano
In one other nook of the truthful, Milan-based R&D heart D-house Laboratorio Urbano showcased how leather-based manufacturing waste that can not be recycled as fertilizer or collagen dietary supplements can acquire a brand new lease on life by way of its patent-pending know-how.
In collaboration with chemical producer L’Officina Chimica and Italy’s Solofra Tanning District, the laboratory has reimagined leather-based scraps and waste powder from the shaving course of into 3D-printed earrings, ornamental inside tiles and embroidered fibers.
“The scraps produced through the tanning course of all have completely different traits relying on the chemical therapies they undergo. Whereas some residual elements could be reused (in conventional methods) there are nonetheless others that can not be repurposed like that,” defined Eva Monachini, D-Home coordinator, noting that the workforce’s objective is to remodel these byproducts into “a brand new uncooked materials as an alternative of unusable waste.”
California-headquartered MycoWorks cultivates mycelium, the root-like community of mushroom fungi, from sawdust, permitting it to naturally kind into skinny, entangled sheets inside 4 to 5 weeks. As soon as the mycelium sheet is absolutely developed, it undergoes ending processes in exterior tanneries and achieves the appear and feel of leather-based. Courtesy of MycoWorks Artistic Studio
Concurrently, extra alternate options to animal leather-based, usually marketed as “vegan leather-based,” are gaining traction within the vogue trade. What many could not understand, nonetheless, is that almost all of those supplies rely closely on plastics or polyurethanes of their manufacturing. Even plant-based leathers comprised of shredded agricultural waste like pineapple leaves or apple peels want plastic backing for construction.
In distinction, California-headquartered MycoWorks has pioneered a extra environmentally sound method to animal leather-based alternate options.
The corporate cultivates mycelium, the root-like community of mushroom fungi, from sawdust, permitting it to naturally kind into skinny, entangled sheets inside 4 to 5 weeks. To enhance construction and energy, fibers like cotton could be added for the mushroom spores to feed on as they develop. As soon as the mycelium sheet is absolutely developed, it undergoes ending processes in exterior tanneries.
“It is not an animal conceal, so it doesn’t have residual proteins like collagen that you simply usually must take away in tanneries to forestall rotting. Consequently, we don’t use chromium (one of the polluting chemical substances in leather-based manufacturing), or giant quantities of water,” mentioned Frederick Martel, MycoWork’s senior vp of gross sales and enterprise improvement, including that the corporate’s shoppers embrace luxurious manufacturers like Hermès and automotive big Basic Motors.
