Billy Tannery takes a walk on the wild side
UK-based leather maker Billy Tannery has taken a walk on the wild side, with the introduction of new shoe range manufactured from fallow deer.
The nubuck leather, tanned at the startup tannery in Leicester, comes from award winning supplier of wild venison, Deerbox, based in Wiltshire.
In the UK, it is estimated that there are over 2 million deer roaming wild, more than at any time for the last one thousand years. As a result, the management of the animals through selective culling gives rise to venison meat, mostly exported to the continent, but also their skins.
With the new collaboration, Billy tannery is able to take the skins that were previously incinerated, a costly waste, and transform them into a sustainable material, unique in appearance with scars and evidence of their wild life.
The “Parkland” high top sneaker, made in partnership with Sheffield based shoe makers Goral and Sons, are each totally unique due to the characteristics of the leather, with Jack Millington, co-founder of Billy Tannery calling it a “ground-breaking leather in terms of both sustainability and individuality”.
Image - Billy Tannery
