World Leather Podcast Stephen Tierney

Our conversation, in its entirety, with new COTANCE president, Manuel Ríos Navarro, which took place at Lineapelle in Milan in September 2021. Here, Mr Navarro, who is chief executive of Valencia-based double-face and nappa producer Inpelsa, explains in detail his view of the current situation of the leather sector in Spain, in Europe and globally, and explains what his main priorities will be in his two-year tenure as president of the industry’s representative body in the European Union. This episode of the World Leather Podcast is in Spanish. A written version appears in English in the October-November issue of World Leather.

Federico Brugnoli explains why his thinking around lifecycle assessment (LCA) has changed and why he thinks it’s not advisable to try to use a single number to present the carbon footprint of leather.

Dr Luis Zugno, president of IULTCS, talks to World Leather about his 45 years in the industry, his reflections on a turbulent first year at the head of the leather chemists’ and technologists’ body and his hopes for the 2021 and beyond. Asked about areas in which he would like to see innovation in the future, Dr Zugno delivers a detailed list of ideas that, taken together, constitute a real programme for change that leather manufacturers and their chemicals and technology suppliers can, and must, address together.

Image: Philémon d’Andurain.

In this episode, we present our recent interview with Tom Schneider, the founder of ISA TanTec. In discussion with World Leather editor, Stephen Tierney, Mr Schneider discusses the impact of covid-19 so far on his company and on the leather industry in general. In the podcast, he also gives his opinion of what 2021 is likely to hold.

Later in the conversation, Mr Schneider explains in detail why ISA TanTec has decided to launch a new division, Creation of Sustainable Materials (COSM), to prepare alternative materials, made from non-animal natural resources, for brands to use in vegan collections. “We are not saying that this is an alternative to leather,” he says. “Absolutely not. I don’t want to have an alternative to leather. I want to have an alternative to the vegan materials, to the polyurethane stuff.”

The saga, so far, of LVMH’s on-off-on-off attempts to acquire New York-based brand Tiffany’s.