The leather industry has always recycled waste from the food industry. La Canadienne offers various tanning alternatives to provide its customers with the most ethical product possible, taking environmental concerns into account.
WHY IS WEARING LEATHER ECO-RESPONSIBLE?
Leather is born from nature. Yet, it is nothing without human intervention to care for, transform, and rehabilitate it to become luxurious and living leather. Its naturalness and nobility make it a material with high added value.
The National Leather Council
Recycling and the Circular Economy
Before ending up in your closet, leather goes through many stages. Several economic sectors influence both the quality and quantity of this raw material that is skin.
The leather industry "values waste" because most hides come from livestock. Animals are not raised for their skins but primarily for milk or meat consumption, with the exception of certain species like reptiles…
Good to know: At La Canadienne, we decided in September 2020 to no longer distribute exotic leather because it does not come from the food industry.
Approximately 7 million tons of hides result from bovine consumption per year worldwide. If the leather industry did not exist, hides would simply be waste to be discarded and treated; this would have far more negative impacts on the environment. The leather industry is indeed the oldest recycling activity in the world, as it transforms the skin of an animal raised for its meat or milk into a renewable material.
Durability
Leather has many advantages; it is the ideal garment to wear during mid-season. It is durable and, with the natural warmth generated by the body, it keeps you warm thanks to its windproof properties. Leather is a durable material over time. Once purchased, your leather item will last at least ten years. This is thanks in particular to its robust properties.
Buying your leather from La Canadienne also guarantees that your purchase aligns with this logic of durability. A lifetime warranty and after-sales service (repair, transformation, degreasing, depigmentation) will allow you to keep your leather items for as long as possible and sometimes even give them a second life.
Good to know: Since September 2020, La Canadienne guarantees, as part of its commitment to product longevity, a lifetime warranty on its manufacturing (La Canadienne brand).
LEATHER TANNING
Tanning is the essential operation that transforms raw hide into leather and thus changes it from waste to raw material. This operation has an environmental impact.
Approximately 80 to 85% of all leathers undergo chrome tanning, a mineral tanning agent.
The remaining 15 to 20% undergo vegetable tanning using natural tanning agents (barks, wood, roots, or leaves).
Before the tanning stage, most of the time, only cold and salt are used to preserve the many raw hides.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEATHER
There are many types of leather, tanning methods (mineral or vegetable), and just as many finishes. All these singularities consequently lead to different names for this noble natural material. However, vegetable leather and vegan leather (or eco-leather) should not be confused.
So-called vegetable leather is a shortcut for leathers tanned with vegetable agents. Vegetable leather is indeed derived from an animal (sheep, calf, cowhide, or goat). However, the skin has been transformed by vegetable tanning agents without chrome, unlike so-called mineral tanning.
Vegan leather, also known as eco-leather, is made from vegetable fibers (grape, pineapple) that have the appearance of leather after numerous applications of several coatings and thus after the use of chemical products in the vast majority of cases.
THE ECO-FRIENDLY LABEL
La Canadienne's teams, striving to leave the smallest possible ecological footprint, are committed to a more responsible approach and more thoughtful consumption: producing the best possible pieces that will accompany you throughout your life. It is in this spirit that our new collection with eco-friendly labeled models under the La Canadienne brand is inscribed. You will now find our concerned models marked with this logo.
What does this label mean?
Our Indian partner's tannery takes the greatest care not to discharge water and components used into nearby rivers but to always recycle and reuse, thus creating a virtuous cycle. Our partner works under the well-known patents: ATP (Affluent Treatment Plant) & RO (Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment). In India, only a handful of tanneries and factories operate in this way today.
Our Indian manufacturing workshop, which produces a part of our leather collections, processes hides in a tannery by excluding the use of the following three chemical components: AZO / PCP / CHROME 6.
These three chemical components are prohibited in Europe by REACH regulations because they can be harmful to the planet and ecology, and sometimes even to health, particularly Chrome 6, resulting from improper use of Chrome 3.
OUR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ROLE AT LA CANADIENNE
In addition to all this ecological and sustainable aspect, La Canadienne imposes many rules regarding the traceability of all the hides used. This is why since 2015 the place of manufacture (assembly) has been specified for each model, even though European regulations do not require it. Also, when the information is given, the origin of the hide is specified. Ultimately, La Canadienne is working to offer a wide selection of traceable models.
La Canadienne pays close attention to three essential points that determine the traceability of a model:
- The Made In (or country of manufacture in terms of assembly) is important for social commitment and employee working conditions.
- The provenance of the hide (origin of the farm) refers to the location of the animal rearing and concerns animal welfare, while also being linked to geographical notions (respect for the environment, deforestation, etc.)
- The location of the tannery is important in terms of carbon impact (waste, air, and water treatment)
Since spring 2020, La Canadienne has been working on a sustainable charter that aims for greater transparency on the garments it produces and distributes, from the leather, shearling, and fur industry to the down jacket industry.
Many audits of its manufacturers and suppliers are underway to meet four commitments:
- Environmental commitment
- Animal welfare commitment
- Social commitment
- Transmission of know-how
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
Chrome: chemical agent used for mineral leather tanning. Certain forms of chrome, particularly Chrome 6, can be dangerous for health.
Chrome 6: result of a deviation from chrome 3 due to improper use or association
Tanning: the operation aimed at transforming raw hide into leather through the use of tanning agents.
Tannin: all substances allowing tanning. These substances can be vegetable or chemical in nature.
