Leather Naturally and Leather Working Group join forces

Two major leather industry membership not-for-profits, Leather Naturally and Leather Working Group, agree to closer working practices through reciprocal membership

We are pleased to announce the reciprocal membership agreement between Leather Naturally and Leather Working Group, that will lead to both industry non-profits working more collaboratively in the future.

The industry membership association, Leather Naturally (LN), is dedicated to the promotion of leather and the provision of education on leather as a material. Through its activities, studies, and global resource center, it promotes the use of globally manufactured sustainable leather and seeks to inspire and inform designers, creators, and consumers about its beauty, quality, and versatility.

We look forward to collaborating in educating about leather and communicating the role leather plays in a circular society where nothing is wasted, and everything can be reused.

Leather Working Group (LWG) exists to drive improvement across the global leather supply chain, minimizing the environmental impact of leather production as well as inspire, educate, and challenge its member companies. LWG is the overarching standard for leather manufacturing, covering all elements and actors in the leather value chain.

This reciprocal membership agreement signifies the solidification of our collaboration with Leather Naturally. Our aligned focus is to provide consumers with the facts about sustainable leather and to better support brands with their communications about leather sourced from LWG supply chains.

Working together for the future of leather Both LN and LWG have agreed on a more collaborative approach. One of the more significant joint-focus areas is targeting consumers with correct facts and figures about leather, which will in turn help consumers to overcome certain misconceptions about leather, and also more clearly define what sustainable leather is and where it can be sourced from, such as from an LWG certified tannery.

In January 2022, Leather Naturally, Leather UK, and the University of Northampton (ICLT) published a consumer research report ‘Leather and the Consumer’ that examines the opinions and buying habits of 2,000 UK consumers for leather and leather alternative products. With an extensive network of brand and retail members, LWG intends to leverage industry and consumer research such as this, to provide more concrete support for product and brand-level claims, as well as collaborate with LN on direct communications to consumers. In this way, both LN and LWG utilize their combined resources and can reach the entire leather value chain.

Both organizations are looking forward to progressing discussions for future collaborative work.