![]() ![]() For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved “Gen Z has a different mindset – they consider it a moral and ethical ,” says Silverstein. Joon Silverstein, senior vice president for global marketing, creative and sustainability at Coach, says that according to the company’s research older generations and more established luxury consumers tend to consider pieces made from recycled leather as low quality. According to research from McKinsey, nine in 10 Gen Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues while 54% of are open to spending 10% extra for sustainable products, a sharp contrast to baby boomers, of which only 23% were willing to. Gen Z – those born between 19 – is driving the rebellion against the creation of even more animal leather. Research from the Leather and Hide Council of America found that in 2019 in the US alone over 5 million hides went to landfill. According to engineered leather supplier ELeather, up to 75% of all leather hides are squandered. ![]() However, it cannot be denied that the animal leather industry is notoriously wasteful. As a meat eater, it’s more responsible of me to use leather.” It’s one of the first examples of the up-cycling economy in history. Volkan Yilmaz, a leather expert who deconstructs luxury leather goods to access their quality on his viral TikTok channel under the name Tanner Leatherstein, says the idea of animals such as cows, goats, pigs and sheep being bred just for their leather is a regularly misquoted fact. “Every time you eat an apple, you’re basically eating a handbag,” quipped Stella McCartney after showcasing her latest collection in March, which included bags made from the waste of apples (pictured below) originally grown for juice and jam in northern Italy. Last week, Ganni launched a bag made from the waste of orange and cacti farms, and Hermès has experimented with mushroom leather. These “it bags” are less about flaunting about how much money you’ve got and more about humble bragging that IYKYK. While still expensive, they aren’t extortionate. Telfar’s vegan shopping bag dubbed the “Bushwick Birkin”, thanks to its popularity in New York kickstarted the trend. Price points have also dropped with the sweet spot hovering around the £200 mark. Fast forward to 2023 and there’s been a sharp paradigm shift with a plethora of leather alternatives and a trend for recycling and upcycling existing animal leather. ![]() Twenty years ago, the most desirable “it bags” were made from rare and exotic animal skins such as a crocodile Hermès Birkin, which fetched six-figure sums. This week it launched Coachtopia, a sub-brand that focuses on circular craft and features a variety of bags made from leather that was originally destined for landfill. The American fashion house Coach is betting on it as a new concept to lure the next generation of luxury consumers. Would you pay £350 for a bag made from scraps of leather swept up from a factory floor? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |