Leather Goods and Accessories

SIC 2386, 3151

NAICS 315292, 315992

This segment of the broader global leather industry produces various forms of leather apparel, including gloves, jackets, vests, and hats, and miscellaneous accessories such as belts, purses, and bags.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The global leather apparel industry produces within two broad categories: light leather and heavy leather. The category of light leather usually refers to the tanned skins that come from smaller animals and reptiles, known simply as skins, while the heavy leather distinction refers to leather that comes from larger species of animals, often called hides. Most apparel and accessories crafted by this industry come in both light and heavy leather styles, with heavy generally being the more valuable form.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
Trade Reforms

The 1990s saw important developments in the arena of world trade, including renewed emphasis on broadening the scope of liberalized trade. Two key trade agreements that had potential to rejuvenate the leather industry were concluded in the first half of the decade: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Both agreements eased market access to many of the world's leading economies covering a wide range of merchandise. GATT stipulated a gradual phase-out of all protective tariffs and quotas and their complete elimination by 2005.

In North America, NAFTA was passed in 1994. It also called for a gradual reciprocal phase-out of tariffs placed on leather exports and imports between Mexico and the United States. Concurrently, members of the European Union continued to make strides throughout the decade toward unifying their respective economies. This initiative culminated in the 1999 rollout of monetary union, or the Euro, among a majority of the EU member states. In the long term, Europe's economic unification was expected to make market entry in its numerous distinct nations easier for exporters to the region. In addition, the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 provided nations with a cooperative forum for the creation and implementation of trade agreements and policies. Its membership grew to 147 nations in 2004, including many developing countries. The 1995 WTO Agreement on Agriculture promoted reforms centering on fair, market-oriented trading systems, detailing specific commitments to reduce support and protection in the areas of domestic support, export subsidies, and market access, and through the establishment of strengthened and more operationally effective GATT rules and disciplines.

Production Process

The process of manufacturing gloves and leather apparel involves more or less the same number of major stages. Dependent upon their unique qualities, however, the number and types of operations performed within each stage can vary widely. The major manufacturing stages are tanning of hides and skins; finishing and dyeing; leather preparation; and garment making, including cutting, closing, stitching, and "laying off."

Types of Gloves and Mittens

Several types of light and heavy leathers enter into the production of gloves and mittens. Certain dress gloves, for instance, are produced from kidskins. Kidskins come from milk-fed baby goats that are raised in a delicate manner to protect against bruises and scratches, guaranteeing smoothness and a resilient quality uncommon to most gloves. Many are brush-dyed to ensure that the inside of the gloves remains white. Traditionally worn on formal and semi-formal evening occasions, kidskin gloves enjoy a reputation as the aristocrats of glovewear.

Mocha leather is used for both men's and women's gloves, and when finished, takes on the appearance of a fine silky velvet. This type of leather comes from black longhair sheep, native to Asia and Africa, whose skin is tanned with alum or formaldehyde. At first, mocha gloves, desired for their thickness and weight, were produced for men only. Later they were shaved, skived (a leather industry term referring to the operation of cutting leather more or less horizontally to reduce its thickness), or friezed (which refers to the process of removing the epidermis or grain layer by scraping with a hand-held knife and, later, by automated machine) to a fine thinness deemed acceptable for both men's and women's wear. Mocha leather is preferred for its durability, and, from a manufacturer's standpoint, for the ease with which it is dip-dyed or brush-dyed.

Suede gloves, of Swedish origin, come from kidskin or milk-fed baby lambs. Most are finished with a nap on the flesh side of their skin. Compared to other leathers, suede is the thinnest and most perishable of all. For glove manufacturers, suede is highly desired for its adaptability to all colors in brush-dyeing.

Capeskin leather, named for its Cape Town, South Africa, port of embarkment, is made from small African sheep. It possesses a sturdy, lightweight quality, with a very fine grain that when finished is soft to the touch and pliable. Buffing provides it with a glossy fashionable finish.

Pigskin leather made from wild Mexican or South American Peccary boars is the finest of all pigskin leathers. Domestic U.S. pigs, in comparison, are raised primarily for meat, and produce a hide fit only for luggage and upholstery. However, unregulated hunting depleted the numbers of Peccary boars, and the Mexican government eventually had to take steps to limit their killing. Peccary leather produces a soft glove, with a distinctive grain pattern owing to the pattern of its hair follicles arranged in detached lines of three.

Goatskin is tanned with sumac to produce a distinctive leather-grain glove. Goatskin gloves come from leather obtained from South America, South Africa, India, and Spain. Possessing strong and durable characteristics, goatskin is used mostly for men's gloves. Cabretta leather is obtained from a species of haired sheep native to certain provinces in Brazil. This type of skin was used mainly for shoe leather until the 1930s when it became available in glove form. Cabretta, close in appearance to Capeskin and very durable, is produced with a smooth, bright, glossy finish. Gloves made from lambskin leather come from young sheep that have grown beyond the milk-fed stage, having eaten grasses and grains that considerably change the character of their skin. Lambskin is not as fine, resilient, and durable as kidskin gloves or suede.

Buckskin, deerskin, reindeer, calfskin, bovine, and horsehide form the major group of heavy leathers used in glove making. As a group they are known for their durability, heaviness, warmth, and pliable nature. Tanned to be washable, they are mostly manufactured as men's work gloves. Heavy hides are also put to use in the production of leather apparel and handbags.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

The leather goods and accessories industry is highly dependent on overall economic health and consumer spending. From 1989 to 1999, the major regions of economic growth—the developed economies of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan—still had not resumed earlier levels of demand despite economic recoveries. Demand strengthened somewhat, beginning in 2000 and the first half of 2001, as markets for light leather began to recover. But the global market for leather clothing and accessories was generally disappointing in 2002 and 2003, due to tepid economic growth and the impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which temporarily disrupted global trade. On the other hand, production of hides and skins increased, particularly in developing countries. Prices for hides and skins, however, declined through this period due primarily to falling demand in developed countries, which are the primary import markets for leather items.

One particular region exerting a significant downward impact on the production of light leather finished products consisted of the former planned economies of Eastern Europe and the new states that emerged from the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Throughout the region, economic conditions in general were in a state of prolonged...

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