World Leather Congress takes place
17/07/2019
Joint hosts of the event were Leather Industries of America (LIA) and the United States Hide Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA); the congress was organised under the auspices of the ICT, with the administrative assistance of Italian tanning industry body UNIC, the organiser of the Lineapelle exhibitions. The 2019 World Leather Congress took place the day before the July edition of Lineapelle New York.
Welcoming delegates, LIA president, John Wittenborn (pictured), said paid tribute to his organisation’s co-hosts and to event sponsors, APLF and Italian tanning machinery association Assomac.
Fifth-generation tanner and first woman president of the ICT, Lisa Howlett, said at the start of the event that leather is timeless. “Our production teams can make leather that fits the use of whatever it is customers want it to go into, ranging from the durability of sole leather to the softness of leather for women’s shoes,” she said. “It can be used to make a basketball, a baseball or a baseball glove, and all of this is produced from a product that would have gone to waste.”
Presentations throughout the day focused on the technical aspects of leather manufacture and gave detailed insight into the work of a number of prominent brands and into their vision for leather.
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