1 – Brazil has a federal law that prohibits the use of expressions such as “couro ecológico” or “couro sintético”, ecological leather and synthetic leather, respectively. The law number 4.888/65 determines that only some articles made from animal skin can receive the “leather” denomination.
2 – The North Beach Leathers brand, responsible for drawing and making the leathers clothes the many artist used, like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley, it was born from Brazilian Leather. Bill Morgan, designer of the brand, created his first clothes after a visit to Rio Grande do Sul, where he bought many skins.
3 – The Brazilian leather exportation was responsible for 11% of the country’s total trade surplus in the year of 2015.
4 – Since the year 2000, there is a specific project to encourage the national leather exportation: the project is called “Brazilian Leather”, it’s realized in partnership with Centro das Indústrias de Curtume do Brasil (CICB) and the Agência Brasileira de Promoção de Exportações e Investimentos (Apex-Brasil). Since the beginning of the Brazilian Leather, the Brazilian leather exportation grew 236%.
5 – A Brazilian tannery won the traditional award “Tannery of the Year”. The company was grace with the award in Hong Kong, in March 2016, for the excellence in corporate practices.
6 – It exists a certification without precedents that recognizes the tanneries for its practices in line to the three sustainability pillars: economics, environment and society. It’s called “Certificação de Sustentabilidade do Couro Brasileiro” (CSCB), developed by CICB, and inspired in ABNT standards and audited by certifying bodies accredited by Inmetro.
7 – The project recognized as the most innovative on leather design in the world is from Brazil: it is call “Design na Pele”. Adding art and fashion inside the tannery production, this initiative conceived innovative products in the leather segment. The program conceived an exposition that has been already see and applaud in many countries and takes part on the “Brazilian Leather” project, from CICB and Apex-Brazil.
8 – More than 80 countries buy Brazilian leather. The main buyers are China, Italy and the United States of America.
9 – To identify the difference between leather and a synthetic material that tries to imitate the first, be aware: characteristics like the humidity absorption, transpiration and temperature regulation; those are natural proprieties from the leather. The synthetic material is unable to artificially reproduce these properties
10 – Brazil performs a leather show with the trends, which are being work by the stylists, with 2 seasons of anticipation. The show is called “Leather Preview”, and is the result of a big research, always shown in first hand at Inspiramais – Salão de Design e Inovação de Materiais, located in São Paulo.