Today I was delighted to be observing the Clerk of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers being awarded a Fellowship of the University of Northampton at their July Degree ceremonies, to the obvious delight of their Chancellor, The Rev. Richard Coles who grew up locally in a leather footwear family. The Reverend Coles gives every impression […]
Philip Roth had a good glove teacher
When Philip Roth wrote about the glove industry he did good research, and anyone keen to learn about gloves, particularly the dress glove business, should definitely read this book. Roth travelled to that most famous American city of gloves – Gloversville – in up state New York and met with senior, experienced glove industry experts […]
SLTC focus on Northampton has proven win:win
POSTED ON APRIL 23, 2018 SLTC on a successful track The Society of Leather (SLTC) held its 121st Annual Conference at the University of Northampton on Saturday last, the 21st April. I think I have been back to attend about one third of all them, so I have seem the gradual decline and growth in phases over […]
Changing Culture and its implications
Over the last few weeks I have been using my weekly items for International Leather Maker to dig into the concept of changing culture. Not in a particularly sophisticated way, but rather to consider how good regulation, properly enforced can push companies along a positive path. From the about 1970 onwards the leather industry in […]
The progressive leather industry
POSTED ON JANUARY 16, 2018 Waste is a design error Two 40 foot containers are put together to form one module of the new plant I first met Dietrich Tegtmeyer of Lanxess right at the beginning of this century – when Lanxess was still part of Bayer. I was working for ECCO based in Dongen […]
Looking at the Danube
I have just spent the morning sailing in a tiny boat around the Danube Delta seeing how it is still trying to recover from the long communist era when the plains along the Danube were aggressively farmed to produce grains for Russia using huge amounts of fertiliser much of which ended up in the river. […]
APLF Hong Kong
POSTED ON APRIL 20, 2017 Making the most of the Hong Kong Leather Show In recent years we have become used to meeting students on the University stand at the APLF leather show in Hong Kong. While the European shows in Milan and Paris are important in global terms Hong Kong still remains pre-eminent and […]
Amanda Michel, an industry talent lost too soon
POSTED ON APRIL 12, 2017 Amanda Michel 1960-2017 We tend to ask leather technicians whether they work in the wet end or in finishing and do not think of other roles. But as Christine Powley Williams made clear when she spoke movingly at Amanda Michel’s funeral, Amanda was rare, if not unique, in her outstanding […]
The Museum moves to the Grosvenor Centre and the ICLT plans for the Vulcan Works
POSTED ON FEBRUARY 2, 2017 The National Leather Collection has Moved Downtown (name temporarily adopted for the Museum of Leathercraft, since reversed) The National Leather Collection (which used to be called the Museum of Leathercraft), now safely housed on two upper floors of the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in the middle of Northampton, is leading the […]
Remembering John Basford
John Basford was one of my earliest and closest friends when I joined the leather industry. It was always one of my delights to look ahead to the many days of reminiscing over two long, but very diverse, careers in the leather industry with some of John’s excellent wine from the Wine Society, membership of […]
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