Long Lasting Effects on my Beliefs: Leather

As part of our program, we've been doing a lot of activities that involve studying leather. Although I have leather bags and love leather jackets, I had never actually thought about the process of making leather. Earlier in the trip, we visited the Delvaux handbag factory, the oldest leather luxury goods house in the world. While touring the factory, we were able to look at the products and really discover how each bag is made. I was surprised at how much care goes into selecting only the most perfect parts of each piece of leather and the hand-construction of each bag.

As we explored more of the factory, our tour guide began to explain the different leathers they utilize for Delvaux handbags. For each sample, she would explain what part of the animal's body each part had come from. For example, she showed us where the spine was at one point. She even showed us snake skin that still had the snake head attached with his tongue out. When she explained which side of the skin had been the "outward facing" versus the "inside facing" sides, I began to get nauseous.

I am not a vegetarian and I don't have any pets. I'm not particularly fond of animals, and as one of my latest blogs explained I had never really stopped to consider the materials that go into creating products. The trip to Delvaux caused me to have a realization about the different animals that are sacrificed to make handbags and other products like jackets and furniture. The process of skinning animals, being processed at a tannery, then still only using the smallest, most perfect pieces to make handbags seemed excessive and cruel to me. We learned that some handbags might use the skin of up to four animals because they do not use certain parts of the skin. 

I continued to be disgusted by the use of leather when we had a presentation on leather and traveled to furniture stores and Hermes on Wednesday. After another discussion of where leather comes from and the different types of animals that are sacrificed, I could barely stand to touch the samples and the smell made me feel sick. When we visited the furniture stores, I noticed specific uses of leather that seemed excessive and wasteful to me. For example, below on the left the wall surrounding the elevator in the store is covered in leather. To the right is a decorative framed art piece made completely out of leather. There was also a rug made out of leather with hair. I've never really been a fan of these types of rugs, but now that I know the process in detail I've become disgusted with this type of decoration.

 These experiences had a strong effect on my morals. Although I don't really love animals, I still do not believe in sacrificing them for the pure reason of creating decoration or beauty. As a result of this trip, I will focus more on where products I purchase come from. I'll probably try to buy fake leather more frequently because I don't want to support this type of cruelty (and it's much cheaper!).