The latest issue of World Leather covers in detail the United Nations conference that ended in Geneva on August 15 with delegates unable to agree a treaty to bring to a halt the global plastic pollution crisis. Our hope is that the anger and disappointment many consumers and campaign groups clearly feel can be turned into a new appreciation of circular materials, including leather. Other articles emphasise the value tanners and artisans are able to add to hides and skins. Large volumes of these raw materials are going to waste when, in the right hands, the value-add can exceed 5000%. In this, the $10 million handbag that recent broke records at auction in Paris is an outlier, but is also the subject of another article in this issue. We also explore the growing demand for second-hand clothes and accessories and explain why durable and lastingly beautiful leather products fit in well with this.
