Industry prepares for Beast to Beauty
15/07/2009
The second Beast to Beauty conference, covering all aspects of the leather supply chain, goes ahead in Northampton on Friday, July 17.
Taking place in the impressive Guildhall of the UK’s leather capital, registration for the conference begins at 9.00 am, with a formal welcome and introduction taking place at 10.00.
The first speaker, John Semmelhaak of Germany-based hide trading firm Friedrich Sturm, will take the floor at 10.05 to give a detailed overview of the current situation in the leather pipeline. After this, Jonathan Muirhead, chairman of the Scottish Leather Group, will give a tanner’s perspective of what is happening in the market at the moment. Tony Covington, emeritus professor of leather science at the University of Northampton, will close the first session by presenting his vision of the future of leather and the leather industry.
The focus of the second session wil be on construction challenges and will feature four speakers: Matthew Nicholls of Leeds-based tanning company Yarwood Leather, Wolf Ciecieski of Creative Product in the Netherlands, Guy West of Northampton-based high-end footwear brand Jeffrey West, and Rachel Pedley of retail group Dorothy Perkins.
Immediately after lunch, the discussion will turn to corporate social responsibility and will include presentations from Steven Jesseph of not-for-profit organisation Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, to explain the theory, and from Nick Hill of retail group Marks & Spencer to explain how his company puts it into practice through its Plan A programme.
The fourth and last session of the conference will address the subject of brands, with Trevor Picket, founder of a luxury leathergoods brand, talking about how to maintain an established brand, Laura Chicurel of a start-up specialising in leathergoods made from salmon-skin speaking about some of the issues surrounding the task of setting up a new brand, and Terry Hanby, a consultant on brand development, addressing the challenges global brands face.
After a networking drinks reception at the Northampton Shoe Museum, there will be a gala dinner in the city’s Park Inn. Steve Pateman, the footwear manufacturer who steered a traditional men’s shoe brand into making thigh-length boots and high-heel shoes strong enough for men weighing 95 kilos (as featured in the film Kinky Boots), will give a keynote address.
Full programme details and instructions on how to secure one of the last few available places are available at the link below.
Beast to Beauty
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