During Lineapelle, on Consortium official Facebook page, we posted some images of the last Craft The Leather, the training project focused on talented young designer from the most prestigious international fashion and design institutes, with the aim to enhance the knowledge of Tuscan vegetable-tanned leather. At the end of this project every student has created a three piece collection of personal accessories. Among many comments that we received, there was one of a lady saying, with a outraged tone, that in these images she didn’t see bags, shoes, accessories or other normal leather creations, but only the suffering of dead animals.
Our vegetable-tanned leather is a by-product of the food industry
At first, reading the above-mentioned comment, I was disoriented and then mildly offended. Why? Because I’ve always had the utmost respect for animals and plants. Because we may assume that a different way of thinking exists that considers a wicker basket as a massacre of plants, or a wooden furniture as a tree carnage. But in my humble opinion seeing dead animals while you’re watching a bag or a shoe it’s like seeing Jack the Ripper whenever we look at a chef filleting a fish with a knife. No, Lady, we’re not like that.
Because no animal is killed for its skin; the raw hides used by our tanneries are the discarted by-products of the food industry. If instead the problem is human comsumption, then the Lady should not talk to us but to mankind. Humans have made a lot of mistakes and will continue to make them: we agree on that. Intolerance, discrimination and aggression when judging who thinks differently.
But, dear Lady, we’re not like that. So we can understand your point of view, much less your dogmatic sentence.