On announcing its most recent annual results, New York-based handbag and footwear group Tapestry made several statements about leather, some positive, others less so. By Leatherbiz.

It reported total revenues of $6.7 billion for the 12 months ending June 29, 2024, an increase of 1% year on year. Coach contributed $5.1 billion to the total, Kate Spade $1.33 billion and Stuart Weitzman $244 million.

Tapestry made it clear on presenting the results that it views leather as an important part of its business strategy.

It said specifically that it aims to grow the leathergoods category at Coach and “strengthen core handbag foundation” at Kate Spade.

It also made it clear that it aims to have traceability of 95% of its materials by next year and for 90% of the leather it uses to be from gold- or silver-rated Leather Working Group tanneries, also by 2025. There is also a reference to sourcing a proportion of hides from farms using regenerative agricultural practices.

However, Tapestry also said in a presentation it published at the time of its results announcement that it supports “the development of viable and responsible alternatives to conventional leather”.

It said it had already invested $1 million in Generation Phoenix, the UK-based company that used to operate as E-Leather. Generation Phoenix uses milled leather off-cuts and post-consumer materials to make sheets of material that are made up of two layers of fibre web with a textile core, bonded together using water pressure.

The supplier says of the resulting material: “Generation Phoenix’s sustainable, recycled leather enables customers to achieve the best of both worlds: a high-quality aesthetic that consumers want, with a durability and sustainability that far exceeds alternatives, including real leather.”

As long ago as 2018, the Global Leather Coordinating Committee (GLCC), which brought together the three international leather organisations (the International Council of Tanners – ICT, the International Council of Hides, Skins and Leather Traders Associations – ICHSLTA, and the International Union of Leather Chemists and Technologists Societies – IULTCS), issued a statement on this type of material.

In said it welcomed any process that makes use of shavings and trimmings from tanneries, but questioned some of the environmental claims that finished product brands and their suppliers have made about these materials in comparison to leather. It also said that using the term ‘leather’ in the context of this reconstituted material can confuse consumers.