18 October 2021

Our dedicated animal welfare group met virtually in October 2021  The LWG Animal Welfare Group (AWG) held its half year meeting on 13/14 October to provide members with a progress update and introduce the latest tool – the AWG Checklist – developed for the membership to help understand animal welfare challenges within member leather supply chains. At the meeting it was highlighted how the work the AWG has produced over the past few years is now starting to relate to other development areas within the wider LWG.  Developed with animal welfare specialist organisations, the AWG Checklist can be used by AWG...

15 October 2021

The Leather Working Group hosted their fourth bi-annual Member Meeting on 12-13 October?  For the second year in a row, the LWG hosted?their autumn Member’s Meeting virtually, in lieu of their regular in-person event in Milan, Italy. Over 220 attendees across the global LWG membership joined the online sessions to hear from speakers and learn more about LWG’s current and future workstreams.  The meeting was opened by Ian Scher, VP Procurement at PrimeAsia Leather Company and Chair of the LWG Executive Committee, followed by an update on our membership and auditing process.   Membership Update  Matt Parker, LWG...

08 October 2021

Northampton, UK — 8 October 2021: The Leather Working Group (LWG) welcomes World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as member of the group, strengthening their partnership and ability to create effective change to the ESG practices of the leather industry.  As part of the LWG’s continued mission to holistically improve the impact of the leather supply chain, the multi-stakeholder group has established a formal partnership with WWF, a globally renowned NGO. The collaboration will combine the two organisations’ efforts and maximize their impact on a...

04 October 2021

The Leather Working Group has published its first annual report for the 2020-21 membership year.  After a busy year, the Leather Working Group (LWG) are thrilled to announce to publication of their first ever Annual Report, covering the period from 1 April 2020 to 30 March 2021. Despite an incredibly challenging year, the LWG saw an unprecedented amount of growth both in terms of its membership and the number of audits taking place.   The group was able to publish an updated version of their flagship auditing standard – the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit 7.0 (“P7”), launch a new working group for traceability,...

04 October 2021

The LWG Membership have voted their next brand and leather manufacturer representatives: ECCO Leather and VF Corporation! The Leather Working Group is pleased to announce that VF Corporation and ECCO Leather B.V. have been elected to join our Executive Committee as of 1 October 2021 as the brand and leather manufacturer representative, respectively.  Brand/Retailer representative  Re-elected for a second consecutive term, VF Corporation will represent the brand/retailer sector of the LWG’s membership. Represented by Jonathan Hopper (Director Global Material Supply), VF...

04 October 2021

The newly launched Environmental Impact Working Group (EIWG) has had its first meeting on 30 September 2021. The EIWG aims to be a platform for engagement and education on the environmental impact of leather, working towards both understanding the environmental impact of leather, as well as defining ways to achieve goals to reduce the impact across the leather value chain. Using the information shared through the EIWG, we hope to be able to assist businesses to drive tangible improvements and meet their science-based targets. The LWG Environmental Impact Survey was sent to all EIWG members and all Brand/Retailer members in...

04 October 2021

LWG Members can now access the Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese translations of P7.1.  The LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol 7 (also known as “P7”), was first launched in February and became mandatory on 22 August 2021. The protocol is available in English as standard, and the LWG is also committed to translating the document into key languages based on the global spread of LWG-certified leather manufacturers.  At present, the LWG official translates its audit documentation in to six languages:  Chinese (Simplified...

04 October 2021

The Leather Working Group welcomes a new member to the team: our newly minted Traceability Manager! We are pleased to be able to welcome Vanessa Brain onto the LWG team as our new Traceability Project Manager, who joined us in September 2021.  Vanessa is responsible for managing LWG’s work on the traceability of leather, including managing our Traceability Working Group, developing our Traceability Roadmap, and creating solutions for brands looking to manage chain of custody within their supply chains.   Vanessa has a wealth of experience in the commercial fashion and...

01 October 2021

Several new member organisations joined the Leather Working Group between 1-30 September 2021. See our new members below: Brands/Retailers Canada Goose Inc  DFS Furniture plc  Levi Strauss & Co.  Nisolo  R.M Williams  RGA Leatherworks  SCS (A Share & Sons Limited T/A ScS Sofa Carpet Specialist)  You & Me Fashion Habermann OHG  Suppliers Panabc S.A  Groups, Associations, NGOs & CSOs  WWF  In addition, more companies have become certified this past month. See below...

27 September 2021

EPM guide recommends sourcing leather from LWG-certified leather manufacturers  The Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA) has published a new sourcing guide for the global footwear industry, focused on environmentally preferred material (EPM).  The Environmentally Preferred Material Guide was developed in partnership with businesses within the footwear industry, designed to give companies both a baseline for their sourcing activities (where they should be right now), as well as future targets for best practice (where they should be by 2035).    For leather, the EPM Guide recommends the LWG both within its...

15 September 2021

On Monday 13 September 2021, the Leather Working Group team attended the third annual Sustainable Leather Forum in Paris, France.   Hosted by the Conseil National du Cuir (CNC) at Palais Brongniart, the event brought together over 250 individuals representing major manufacturers, brands, certifications and other related organisations to discuss the future of the leather industry.    The event covered topics related to sustainable and responsible leather production and consumption, such as:  Veganism and animal welfare  Deforestation, carbon footprint and Leather Life Cycle...

06 September 2021

With the scope of the Leather Working Group ever evolving, traceability has come to the forefront of our work and now represents a key priority for the group – emphasised by the needs of our membership in the 2020 and 2021 annual member surveys.   In the latest version of our flagship audit standard, the LWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Protocol 7.1, we have increased our requirements, integrating traceability as a scored element for the first time and adding additional due diligence checks for areas at risk for deforestation.   In the future, we aim to strengthen our traceability criteria by...