One significant clothing material commonly seen in fashion magazines is leather. As I searched through “leather fashion” on Google, the first article that popped up was “How to Style Leather from Fall to Winter 2023” by Forbes. The many different ways to style leather and the chicness of how it looks are what allow leather to never go out of style! But, have you wondered why people choose leather and where the leather used to make fashion staples originate?
Firstly, although leather can be pricey, it is still frequently utilised due to its good quality, craftsmanship and its visual appeal (de Klerk & Redwood, 2017). Leather in fashion often originates from animals such as cattle, sheep and goats (Batista, 2022). Batista (2022) further adds that they are also usually from less developing countries such as India and China where laws on farming animals are less stringent. Leather is usually extracted by killing these animals followed by going through a process known as tanning before they are applied to making fashion apparel such as bags and clothes (Bhavya et al., 2019).
Figure 1 shows the steps required in the processing of leather as identified by Bhavya et al (2019).
Figure 2 illustrates a leather tanning site. (Source: BestLeather.Org)
According to Bhavya et al. (2019), tanning comes in different forms and they are done to process the raw skin and hides, making it suitable for everyday usage. With reference to Figure 1, those are the 7 steps involved in leather processing as underlined by Bhavya et al. (2019).
During the process of tanning, a multitude of chemical reactions including chromium and acid solvents are involved (Bhavya et al., 2019). These processes give off effluent of 30 L/KG of processed skin and 70% of chrome released (Bhavya et al., 2019). Chromium unleashed into the water creates wastewater which is distinctive by its strong colouration, heavy content of suspended particles, organic compounds and pungent smell (Appiah-Brempong et al., 2022). This water is also frequently released on the site of tannery or neighbouring water bodies in the absence of treatment, hence leading to environmental pollution and degradation (Appiah-Brempong et al., 2022). Moreover, heavy metal contamination in water can also cause health implications for humans.
For instance, when contaminated water is consumed, people can suffer from water contamination. This can lead to health implications such as dizziness, growth issues or infertility when metals such as Chromium bioaccumulate in the body (Bhavya et al., 2019). Moreover, individuals working in the tanning industry require direct contact with the chemicals involved. In the short term, direct eye contact with these chemicals can cause skin irritation or visual impairment (Bhavya et al., 2019). In the long term, exposure to such chemicals put workers at a higher risk of contracting illnesses such as lung or nasal cancer due to breathing in of such chemicals.
With such drawbacks it has to the environment, is it still worth it to purchase leather products to keep up with the latest trend and make you feel chic? Additionally, many ethical issues regarding both animals and humans have been highlighted by certain and several news outlets. Therefore, should we continue to live with leather as we feed into our consumerism behaviours or leave the leather trend aside in hopes to protect our environment?
I hope through this blog, you will be able to reflect on your fashion choices and hopefully make more informed choices in the future!
References
Appiah-Brempong, M., Essandoh, H. M. K., Asiedu, N. Y., Dadzie, S. K., & Momade, F. W. Y. (2021). Artisanal tannery wastewater: Quantity and characteristics. Heliyon, 8(1), e08680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08680
Batista, C. (2022). Is leather ethical? The full story behind the popular material – the eco hub. The Eco Hub. https://theecohub.com/is-leather-ethical/
Bhavya, K. S., P, R., A, J. S., Samrot, A. V., Thevarkattil, P., Javad, M., & V.V.S.S, A. (2019). Leather processing, its effects on the environment and alternatives of chrome tanning. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, 10(6). https://doi.org/10.34218/IJARET.10.6.2019.009
de Klerk, H. M., Kearns, M., & Redwood, M. (2018). Controversial fashion, ethical concerns and environmentally significant behaviour: The case of the leather industry. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 47(1), 19–38. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-05-2017-0106
