We often spotlight smaller brands at RLSD – but of course, it’s the world’s oldest fashion houses that dominate the luxury leather market. So where do they each stand on sourcing, tanning and traceability?
While Chanel is famous for its lambskin flap bags, Hermès its customisable variety of leathers (the hardy Epsom leather being the most popular) and Louis Vuitton its instantly-recognisable monogram print, not much focus is put on where these materials come from.
As it happens, many of the big fashion houses own their own leather tanneries, which allows them to secure a supply chain and maintain full control of materials. Below, we share a definitive guide to the ‘big four’ fashion houses – Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior – delving into their tanning methods, traceability principles and sourcing standards.
Hermès is one of the world’s longest-standing and most prestigious leather houses, dating back to 1837 – when the company was known for crafting leather bridles, harnesses and other equestrian accessories. Today, it is most famous for its high-luxury handbags (the Birkin and the Kelly being the most notable) which come in a variety of leather shades and finishes.
Traceability: Hermès does not offer fully-traceable leather. Its materials cannot be traced (publicly) back to the farms they came from. The brand has noted traceability as one of its supply chain aims for the future, and states that it has its own inventory of all source farms, including country and region.
Tanneries: The brand became a member of the Leather Working Group in 2020, and is working towards sourcing all its leather from LWG-certified tanneries. As of 2023, it stated that 74% of its sites were certified. Hermès does not share a list of tanneries used – nor the level of certification acquired – on its website, though it does own the LWG silver-certified Les Tanneries Du Puy (amongst others), where it sources its popular Epsom leather. The brand uses chrome tanning methods to produce this material.
Trunk-maker Louis Vuitton set up shop in 1854, and today is a leading name in leather accessories – famed for its LV monogram print. In 1987, the brand merged with Moët Hennessy to form LVMH, a global luxury group that also owns the likes of Christian Dior, Givenchy and Fendi.
Traceability: The brand does not offer fully-traceable leather. Its materials cannot be traced (publicly) back to the farms they came from. Louis Vuitton states that it carries out regular audits across its supply chain, which includes raw material traceability.
Tanneries: Louis Vuitton states that 97% of its leathers are Leather Working Group-certified – it does not openly share the level of certification acquired. We could not find a full list of tanneries used, although LVMH does own a number of LWG tanneries, including the Singapore-based Heng Long (the world’s only gold-certified exotic leather tannery), Italian tannery Nuti Ivo (also gold certified) and Les Tanneries Roux, in France (LWG audited).
Luxury French fashion house Chanel was founded by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1910, and quickly became a groundbreaking name in women’s fashion. These days, one of the brand’s most iconic pieces is the signature lambskin flap bag, first coined by Coco as the 2.55 bag with a subtle clasp – in the ‘80s, Karl Lagerfeld added the interlocking ‘CC’ logo (and the rest is history).
Traceability: To be frank, the brand leaves a little to be desired when it comes to transparency on leather sourcing – there isn’t much readily available information on Chanel’s website, and leather is only mentioned once in the house’s ‘Sustainability Performance Extract’ for 2023. It states that it is focusing on implementing regenerative agricultural practices, but doesn’t give specifics on this. The brand does not offer fully-traceable leather – its materials cannot be traced (publicly) back to the farms they came from.
Tanneries: Again, Chanel does not give much away on its own website, but the brand is known to have acquired stakes in several tanneries from which it sources the majority of its leathers. It sources its famed lambskin from Bodin Joyeux, an LWG silver-certified tannery which uses both chrome and chrome-free methods. Chanel also owns a majority stake in gold-certified Italian tannery Samanta, which specialises in printed leather, and Conceria Gaiera Giovanni, a bronze-certified tannery offering lamb, goat and calfskin. Chanel ceased using exotic leathers in 2018 due to ethical concerns.
Famed designer Christian Dior founded his eponymous fashion house in 1946 – his ‘New Look’ collections were seen as a trailblazing celebration of femininity at the time. But it wasn’t really until the 1960s that the brand’s cult line of ‘it’ accessories began to take shape – and since then, the brand has become known for countless iconic handbags such as the Lady Dior and the Saddle bag.
Traceability: Dior’s current sustainability statement doesn’t go into much detail – in fact it doesn’t mention leather at all. As such, we infer that the brand does not offer fully-traceable leather, and its materials cannot be traced (publicly or otherwise) back to the farms they came from.
Tanneries: The brand does not give a list of tanneries used, though as an LVMH-owned brand it is thought to use the group’s go-to tanneries, including the aforementioned Les Tanneries Roux. Christian Dior is the least transparent house that we profiled.
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