| “Leather-Cloth infused with dragons breath.” |
About Us
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What Is Organic Leather? · Vision · Artisans · Partners
What is Organic Leather?
Organic Leather means that:
1) The hides used are from animals that are organically fed and humanely raised
2) The tanning process uses plant tannins, vegetable tannins or smoke to cure the leather. This means that there is zero toxicity from the run at the tanning facilities.
We respect the animal, the environment, the artistry of our crafters, and the style and conscience of our customers. Though the industry is in its infancy, sourcing leather that maintains our high standards is none-the-less our total commitment. The leather we work with currently comes from three different sources. One of them is certified organic from the UK, and two US sources who work with native methods of tanning. Although they are not certified organic they would be qualified if there was a certification in the US.
We work with three grades of hide:
Grade One) The animal is certified organic, humanely raised and hide is organically tanned. Or the animal is caught in the wild and organically tanned.
Grade Two) The animal is from a family farm and has had a great chemical free life (although the farm may be transitional or not certified organic0, and the hide is organically tanned, but there is no certification.
Grade Three) Recycled Leather. We keep a constant look out for reclaimed leather from out dated garments, and we use some of this leather/suede, for items such as journal covers, or as accents to some of our designs.
Click to download the new Organic Lether White Paper
Vision
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We are not only consumers we are creators - we are constantly creating our world by the choices we are making.
At Organic Leather we choose to actively honor our sacred relationship to the land and her animals. The world we choose to create is one we inhabit in full consciousness, integrity and connection.
Traditionally leather was worn for protection, warmth and as a power piece, a way of venerating the animal’s essence. The hunters had a great respect for the animal and consciously communed with their spirit in asking to take their life. In gratitude people saw taking animal life as a gift of spirit to human, and a release of animal consciousness toward greater evolution.
It is our intention to return reverence to the practice of working with leather, to pay homage to the tribal peoples of our world who have never forgotten this, and to live in dominion with our animal friends and the earth.
We have chosen the farmers and tanners that we work with very carefully. We are strong supporters and promoters of small farms, and believe they hold an important resonance on our Earth. The hides we use are a by-product of the meat industry; they are from the wild, from organic or small family farms.
The tanneries we use work with bark tannins, plant tannins or smoke, to cure and preserve the leather. The run off from these tanneries is non-toxic and can go straight out on to the fields.
Our dream is to eventually expand our business into fair trade partnerships with people in developing nations where we will work with existing tanneries to convert them to organic processes and employ local craftspeople at fair trade rates.
Artisans
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Part of our philosophy at Organic Leather is to work with artists. At Organic Leather we call them our crafters. We have both crafters that work in house and crafters that work on custom pieces out of house. Currently our crafters include:
In House:
Terry Hunter
Stacie Wickham
Kelsie Fons
Out of House:
Autumn Carey-Adamme
T J Hooker
Pooler
Chuck Pinnell
Partners
Rowan Gabrielle - Founder
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My journey to starting this company had many twists along the way, finding right relations with animals and the wider natural world kept reoccurring as a theme in my life and eventually it became time to simply act.
I started my life as a vegetarian in a family of meat eaters! Much of my childhood was spent in a commune in the UK, where we grew our own vegetables and kept our own livestock. I spent many a winters night nurturing young lambs with a bottle, and cold mornings with the cows, chickens and ducks. When some of these creatures ended up as our dinner I would refuse to eat them, and would cry, until one day my mum sat me down and explained to me. She told me about factory farming and how badly the animals where kept, and how it was much better to have a relationship with the animal and know it had had a great life. My nine-year-old mind totally got it! I made peace with our small farm and dreamed of one day having a big farm where all the animals had good lives :)
Later one of my first jobs was as a production assistant to my father, a documentary film maker. In "GreenBucks" (a documentary ahead of the curve of looking to corporate responsibility) one of the stories we followed was of a large tannery in Kenya that put in a water treatment plant that cleaned up a huge river, the source of water for thousands of people and also reclaimed the land around the factory turning it in to a wild life preserve. The story stayed with me.
In 2001 I produced my first Eco-Fashion show at the Wholelife Expo in Dallas Texas, one of the largest that had been done at that time. This led me to the realization that eco fashion still had a LONG way to go in terms of getting real style and appeal. It was also an incredible education in terms of what truly sustainable fabrics there were, I made a commitment then that no more than 10% of my wardrobe would be regular commercial fabrics (and that 10% would have to be really stunning to make me want to buy it). So as a result I started thinking about making some of the things I really love, like leather.
I woke up one morning with the words "Organic Leather" in my mind, I went to the computer and booked the domain right away. It took about 5 years of research and being too busy with my other projects until I decided ‘This is the year! No one has done it, and if I don’t do it soon, someone else will.’ With joy I saw the surge of growth the eco fashion industry was making, and I wanted in.
The relationship between humans and animals is for me a very sacred one, and to be undertaken with great reverence. When wearing leather one is wearing the energy of that animal, and I want to know that animal lived a full and beautiful life.
My love of farming and the cycles of life continues to grow, and my consciousness around it continues to change, at this point in my life I eat meat, if I know where it's from, and I have a great respect for the farmers that care well for their animal friends.
My dream for this company is to start conscious Tanneries around the world that work with local craftspeople and provide sustainable incomes to help support and promote small farms as well as providing stunning leather goods for people around the world.
Leather is one of the most sustainable fabrics, it practically lasts a lifetime, it keeps you warm, and it has a wonderful feel to it. When produced in genuine relationship and consciousness it is a truly ethical product and a very beautiful one.
read rowan's full biography
Rowan contributes to the EcoFashionistas Blog.
Stacie Wickham
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When I first met Rowan she told me about her idea to start an Organic Leather company. The first thing I asked her was, “What’s that? Is that even possible? Isn’t that kind of an oxymoron?” As she explained, it began to make complete sense and I knew it was my calling to help bring this concept to more people.
I was raised on meat and potatoes in a small east coast town. My grandfather ran a local dairy farm. I spent many a days as a kid on that farm.
As I grew I went off to NYC to study fashion. My time in NYC was cut short when I decided that there was something about the fashion industry that just didn’t resonate with me. I decided to move west and work in theatre and costuming instead.
After my time in theatre in San Francisco, I landed a job working for a very cool boutique that made custom clothing, including leather goods. I worked as a seamstress and production manager for over four years. During that time I had an awakening to the ecological and social inequities that are plaguing our culture. I became aware of the plight of animals in the meat industry and even spent a few years as a vegetarian after listening to a radio program about factory farmed chickens.
I felt it was time to work on making change in the world so I headed back to school and graduated two years later with a Green MBA (a.k.a. MBA in Sustainable Business). Right after graduation I was pulled back in the direction of the fashion world, only this time it was Eco-Fashion. I discovered that since my first time around in NYC, there had been some new innovations in fabrics and much more talk about sweatshop labor issues. I decided that maybe I could create the change I wanted to create through this medium that was so near and dear to my heart.
Then along came Organic Leather. I did some research and looked back at my own life. The meat and potatoes I was raised on was from small local farms. My grandfather stopped farming because he was put out of business by large factory farms. I was a vegetarian but in my developing relationship with these issues I now eat local, free-range, organic, and grass fed meat. I love the animals that have been a part of my life.
In many cultures, animals are worshipped and honoured. If an animal is killed there is a commitment to using all parts of the animal. I feel that Organic Leather embodies that spirit and that we can embrace it in our culture through right practice. My commitment is to creating fashionable clothing that sustains the Earth, the people who produce it, and the animal world that sustains us.
Stacie contributes to the EcoFashionistas Blog.
Matt Richards
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When I was a young man, I was fascinated with the idea of making my own clothing from a local sustainable source. Every fall, area hunters would discard their deerskins for lack of anything else to do with them, and yet this was exactly what the local Indians and pioneers had used for their clothing! So I learned how to tan these hides, made some clothes, and realized in the process that I had also found my vocation. 17 years later, I operate a tannery that specializes in traditional leathers, and in teaching others the magic of transforming raw skin into a beautiful, soft and durable material.
I’ve eaten organic foods since I was old enough to figure out that eating chemicals that are meant to kill things might not be such a good idea. I eat meat. I hunt. I believe that life feeds on life, and that there is nothing wrong with that. However, I also have a lot of love and respect for animals, and its really important to me that the ones that we humans raise for our own benefit are treated well while they are alive: that they are allowed to run at least a little bit wild in the open air and sunshine, nibble the green grass, and experience the joys of this beautiful world. In our family we specifically avoid eating commercial meats, because we don’t want to support the factory farming of living beings. Instead we eat organic, free range animals or those raised in our neighbors fields.
Hides and skins are a ‘waste product’ of animal husbandry and deer hunting. Tanning them doesn’t encourage anybody to kill more animals. However, modern leather tanneries (and the leather they make) are incredibly toxic. So toxic, that there are more tanneries on the EPA Superfund list (the list of the most important environmental clean-up priorities in the US), than any other type of business. So toxic, that 95% of US tanneries have moved their operations overseas to avoid environmental oversight. So toxic, that many old tannery sites can’t be used for agriculture, or built on, or even sold.
When I wrote a book ten years ago, Deerskins into Buckskins: How to Tan with Natural Materials, and it became the most popular tanning or leather book of any kind, I realized that there was a real hunger out there. Leather is such a basic part of our wardrobe, so beautiful, and such an incredibly useful material, that people wanted an alternative.
My dream is to make a wide range of organic and naturally tanned leathers available again: soft leathers, firm leathers, suedes, smooth and grainy leathers, brown, black, red and white leathers. Leathers that make solid and comfortable footwear, keep us warm on a cold night, hold our belongings, cover our chairs and compliment our own beauty. Leather that doesn’t pollute the environment, endanger the people tanning it, and that babies can safely chew on. And most importantly, leather that honors the life of the animal from which it came.
When I heard about Rowan and Stacie, and realized that they shared a similar dream, but came from a different and complimentary background, I knew the time was right to launch Organic Leather.