THE UNIQUE HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIODEGRADABLE LEATHER TANNED WITH NATURAL ELEMENTS

Sustainability has today assumed a centrality in the fashion industry. Santori Pellami SpA is an Italian company founded in 1890 and specialised in the production and sale of animal leathers. Since 2015 Santori has been in the search for more sustainable materials, to obtain a leather product that could meet the needs of a transforming market. Indeed, today we observe consumer trends, new technologies and innovative business models helping to lead the future of fashion towards a more sustainable runway. In 2017 Santori has developed an innovative process to obtain a high-quality leather, named Naturella®, Chromium free, with low use of heavy metals and biodegradable. In 2018 Santori has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to develop a Technical and Economic Feasibility of an innovative “short-chain” business model for Naturella® in the main European markets. In 2018 Santori filed the national Patent application N.102018000008252 - “Improved metal-free tanning process” for Naturella® and in May 2019 Santori received the Search Report and Written Opinion from the Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi, in which it is said that “the matter-subject is regarded as novel”. A Life Cycle Assessment in compliance with European PEFCR and a Durability Analysis have been carried out, in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano, Innovhub – Stazioni Sperimentali per l’Industria and Larix Italia. Through LCA the full list of impact categories in the common context of the European Market for Green Products has been evaluated.