Global Footwear Executive Summit co-organized by APLF and FDRA took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 12th March. The Summit stimulated interactive discussions among industry experts and audiences regarding the developments affecting the entire footwear supply chain.

Together with Kerry Brozyna, Vice President and GM Leathers of Wolverine Leather, Thomas Schneider, Founder & Executive Chairman of ISA TanTec, participated in a panel discussion moderated by Mike Redwood from Leather Naturally. The panel addressed the key drivers of leather in regaining market share in the footwear sector.

Redwood posed the question, is leather too complicated of a material for use in footwear today. Schneider responded that more complications come from sources such as plastic, and synthetics but the leather industry is often faced with common misconceptions. These misconceptions include disrespect of animal welfare, environmental pollution and heavy chemical consumption which can be misleading. “We strive to help our customers to promote leather so that the right messages will reach the consumers. We work on innovative and compelling stories that focus on the sustainability of leather. We provide marketing materials such as hangtags and online information in order to support brands with their marketing initiatives.” Schneider highlighted.

Schneider further explained how tanners can support footwear brands on educating consumers. “ Our customers are global brands with high sustainability standards. We are able to provide our customers the water and energy saving index of every individual ISA product. Our customers are able to choose the leather with lowest environmental impact, which can be passed along to the consumers as an educational element.”