This year’s winners have now been announced following an inspiring final event in Taipei – you can explore their designs and stories on our competition pages.
Planning to take part next year? Stay tuned for details of the 2026 competitions and start shaping your ideas now. We can’t wait to see what you’ll create next!
Taipei, Taiwan [28 October 2025] - At an awards ceremony held today at Taiwan’s Taipei 101 for the Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) 2025 International Student Design Competition, judges crowned Jamie Unlu O’Grady, from the UK’s De Montfort
Once a symbol of rule-breaking and underground cool, leather is experiencing something of a menswear renaissance. But this time, it isn’t just about attitude, it’s about
We’ve always been big advocates of regenerative farming here at RLSD, so we thought it was about time we got our boots muddy and headed down to British Pasture Leather to see it at
From the Great Plains in the North to the grazing fields of the South, US hides make premium leather that is coveted in across the world.
More than five million people work in the global leather industry delivering natural, organic, sustainable, recyclable – and incredibly durable – material for the seats in cars and on planes, bags on our shoulders, jackets on our backs and shoes on our feet. At its heart sits the Leather & Hide Council of America, the national voice of an industry recognised for the quality of its hides, and the integrity of its supply chain. Its work helps its members divert around 30 million hides from landfill every year, by creating beautiful leathers for supply to customers in a 450-billion-dollar global sector.
US hides are prized for their quality and also for their sustainability. Ongoing investment in supply chain optimisation and traceability has made them the first choice for sectors from automative and aviation to fashion and footwear. This is the story of the world’s leading leather-producing nation.
Only a few pieces of furniture carry as much prestige as the Chesterfield sofa. With their signature deep buttoning, roll-topped arms that are the same height as the back, it is instantly recognisable as a symbol of elegance, craftsmanship and comfort.
Fashion is hungry for sustainability. It celebrates circular design, experiments with new biomaterials and promotes heritage craft as a marketing tool. Yet one of the most circular, heritage-rich tanning traditions, still alive in parts of southern Africa,
In a Botswana village, a pot of crushed bark and roots simmers over an open fire. A cowhide, scraped clean, is lowered into the dark liquid. Over the next few days, it will absorb the plant’s chemistry, transforming into leather. This scene, repeated for
When Nike first reissued the Astrograbber, the brand’s 1970s American Football model, it was the silhouette that grabbed attention by harking back to the simpler forms of 50 years ago. But with the new “Muslin Pack” leather takes center stage,
Tassels are set to be everywhere this autumn/winter, across catwalks and on street style influencers - so Scottish accessories label Strathberry couldn’t have collaborated with romantic New York fashion brand Cinq à Sept at a better time.
With bag charms, neckerchiefs and kooky layered jewellery all dominating trends in recent years, you’re not dressed if you’re not highly accessorised right now. But for those that prefer a minimal look, there’s one trending outfit add-on that offers
When I’m styling someone for a shoot or dressing a celebrity, leather is always one of the first fabrics to catch my eye. The designers usually set the stage by choosing the leather, but my job is to make the edits—to tweak, layer and style it so it feels
The Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) Thailand 2025 final competition took place in style on August 25, 2025, at Victor Club, Samyan Mitrtown, in an atmosphere filled with creativity, inspiration, and innovation from Thailand’s rising design talents.
