There's much debate around the sustainability credentials of leather vs vegan alternatives (most of which are still PU - polyurethane). Is one natural and bio-degradable and the other simply plastic? Sorry, but it's not that simple, not least because today's global supply chains are so long and complex. Then there's all the toxic substances used in conventional tanning. And we haven't even talked about animal cruelty yet. But amidst the confusion, there are obviously better ways to do it than cutting down the Amazon to graze cattle, then drenching the hides in heavy metals.

Meet British accessories designer turned local leather supply chain builder, Alice Robinson. With her business partner Sarah Grady, Alice runs British Pasture Leather / Grady & Robinson, a startup that’s trying to rebuild the local leather supply chain in the UK, in a totally traceable way, connecting regenerative farmers with processing and vegetable tanning in Britain.

Their goal is to offer a product that traceable to its farm source, made entirely in the UK, and biodegradable at end of life. That’s a big ask, because the industry has all but disappeared in Britain, so if you’re a emerging handbag designer – as Alice was when she was studying at the Royal College of Art a few years ago - and you want to buy single origin leather locally, you pretty much can’t. This didn’t sit well with her, so as you will hear, Alice decided to do it herself - buying a sheep five miles away from her home in rural Shropshire, and documenting its entire journey from the field it lived in, through its slaughter, through to the tanning processes and accessories production.

Today Grady & Robinson is working with Mulberry and  the Institute for Creative Leather Technology at Northampton University, through the government supported R&D project, The Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology to try to figure out a way to finish leather at a commercial scale in the UK, with ingredients that are known to be sustainable, natural and biodegradable.

NOTES

FUTHER LISTENING Episodes 188 on Future Fabrics, 187 on Collective Fashion Justice & why we can’t have ‘total ethics’ in fashion without considering animals, and 186 with vegan model Robyn Lawley.

SOURCING British Pasture Leather secures hides from farms that are certified by the Pasture-fed Livestock Association or the Savory Institute – two bodies that are dedicated to raising animals on pasture in high welfare conditions with ecological management practices. Working with some of the UK’s craft tanneries that use traditional, vegetable tanning techniques, they supply finished bovine and sheep leather that can be traced to its farm origins agricultural practices.

GRADUATE PROJECT In 2017, Alice graduated from the MA Fashion Womenswear program at Royal College of Art. “As an accessory designer I work a lot with leather, a co-product of the meat industry. I therefore wanted my collection to reflect an element of the industry I believe in. I purchased sheep no. 11458 in October last year from Pikesend Farm, 5.4 miles from my home in rural Shropshire. My choice in keeping 11458's number as the name of my collection is to show a contrast between its worth in one industry and its abandonment in the other. Therefore, the entire journey from the field sheep 11458 lived in, to its slaughter, through to the tanning processes and accessories production has been documented. The collection is a collaboration of design and of restriction, working within sheep 11458's pre-defined parameters. With each differing piece sitting beside one another a greater picture is able be unearthed and hidden traces of a former life are to be deciphered: age, breed, time and place of life.”

THE BOOK Alice’s book, Field, Fork, Fashion: Bullock 374 and a Journey Into Sustainable Design is coming soon. “This is the story of a cow, Bullock 374, and its journey from field to fork and into fashion.  In this personal investigation into ethical and traceable leather, fashion designer Alice Robinson begins a ground-breaking journey into the origin story of leather and its connection to food and farming. As a fashion student, Alice started to question the material she worked with. Leather is universally acknowledged as a luxury material, from which desirable bags, shoes and clothing are made. But how much do we know about where it comes from? Alice’s questions led back to her childhood home in rural Shropshire, where she decided to buy Bullock 374 and follow its journey from a local farm to the abattoir, then to the butchery and finally to the tannery. The journey culminates with Alice’s own design practice as she creates a collection based on this single hide. In doing so, Alice would begin to see the bigger picture – and connect farm, food and fashion for the first time to understand the true meaning of provenance, value and beauty.” More here.