#SupplyChange - For More Transparency in the Leather Industry

This past Monday,  The Guardian published an article on a new study linking major fashion brands to Amazon deforestation. It is urgent that consumers are informed about these connections and shown transparently how our goods are produced.

We absolutely have to bring about a change in the way we treat mother nature, our animals and our people.

I find it frightening how little these major fashion brands are aware of their implications. At MARAI, we work hard to find transparency in a complex leather industry with supply chains that are long and opaque - this is our daily work.

Would you guess that the raw material of 20% of „the best Italian cowhide" comes from Brazil? Probably not. If we as a small brand can do our homework - the big, financially powerful companies should be doing it too.

What we think is missing in this debate is a reference to the enormous meat consumption that precedes these many raw hides. The cattle in Brazil - as elsewhere - are not slaughtered for their hide, but for their meat - of which 80% is exported to China, Hong Kong and the European Union, all with a big hunger for cheap meat. Farmers don't get paid for the hide. And even though the Brazilian slaughterhouses make a lot of money selling raw hides, the meat industry makes x times as much. The hide makes up about 8% of a cattle, and using it is the pure consequence of killing the animal. By the way, the remaining 50% is used to make gelatine, animal feed, pharmaceuticals, biogas, bone meal, and more.

In our opinion, switching to artificial leather because of all this is not the answer. A vegan world will not be the solution to the problems in our world. But our supply chains definitely need to become more transparent and, above all, more local. This is the work we do at MARAI.

Thank you @theslowfactory, @stand.earth, @modelactivist, @laurapitcher, @guardian, @cameronrussell for this work! We are very proud to support you.

#SupplyChange