Urgency Needed for Coordinated Messaging and Strong Defense of Leather Industry
DETROIT, Mich. – March 4, 2025 – In an effort to raise urgency and action regarding the current market crisis facing the global leather industry, Katie Kutskill, Is It Leather? campaign president, will participate in three presentations at APLF Hong Kong 2025. The presentations will address the current challenges facing the leather industry, including actions by activists, misinformation from retailers, and declining consumer preference, while suggesting potential solutions that mandate industry alignment and involvement.
“We are at a critical moment in history for our industry as we fight against prolific disinformation driven by well-financed anti-leather advocacy that is directly impacting the leather take rates across all segments of fashion, footwear, automotive and accessories,” says Kutskill. “If one thing is very clear, we don’t have much time to align ourselves and work together to protect and promote our industry – we are at risk of losing it all.”
Kutskill added that the organized and ongoing defamation of real leather is causing extreme consumer confusion and generating a lack of preference when it comes to choosing real or fake. Furthering the problem are retailers using disinformation to make the replacement of real leather with fake plastic alternatives almost an altruistic “trend.”
Get involved and join in the conversation by attending the following presentations:
- “Unified Leather: The Path to Market Relevance”
- March 11, 2025, 12:15 – 17:00 PM (Within Leather Supply Chain Symposium hosted by ILM)
- Location: N101B, HKCEC
- “Leather and the Consumer: How to communicate the sustainable value of leather”
- March 13, 2025, 10:00 – 11:00 AM (With Deborah Taylor, Sustainable Leather Foundation)
- Location: Main Stage Hall 3G, HKCEC
- “Who will shape the future vision for leather?”
- March 14, 2025, 10:30 – 11:15 AM (With Yusuf Osman of YUSSICO)
- Location: Main Stage Hall 3G, HKCEC
More information:
- APLF Event Agenda
- Leather Supply Chain Symposium
- International Leather Maker
- Leather and the Consumer Event
- Sustainable Leather Foundation
- Who Will Shape the Future Vision for Leather?
- YUSSICO
About Katie Kutskill
Kutskill, who holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MSc in Leather Technology from the University of Northampton, has over a decade in the leather industry. Her most recent roles include Technical Director at the Sustainable Leather Foundation and Executive Global Director of Product Development & Sustainability Officer at Pangea. Recently named President of the Is It Leather? campaign, she is focused on finding new answers and levels of cooperation within the industry to better support real leather messaging and counter deceptive misinformation campaigns currently impacting the industry.
About Is It Leather?
Is It Leather? is a global consumer education initiative that seeks to promote the truth about the benefits of real leather. Through a combination of engaging social media and traditional advertising outreach strategies, the Is It Leather? campaign has reached over 1.19 billion consumers with pro-leather educational messaging focusing on the luxury, durability, and sustainability of real leather. The campaign is funded by numerous industry associations and global companies dedicated to the success of the leather industry.
For more information, visit: www.isitleather.com