Le Cuir A Paris still showing growth

This was the eleventh edition and with each show Le Cuir A Paris becomes more sure of itself. Exhibitors have come and gone as the trade comes to realise the innovative and fashion requirements needed to appeal to the fashion trade as designers and range builders search for inspiration. Heavy leathers are out. Creative and quirky leathers are in. Brazilian tanneries were in evidence once more, showing under the CICB umbrella. Some very eye-catching handworked decorative leathers were being shown by Berlonzi. Soft bronze metallics were highlighted by Duenas Couros, who also shared the stand with Mats who showed a variety of finished croupons. Next door BCB Couros had a range of leathers in cow, calf and goat. In addition to chrome tanned leather they were featuring their chrome-free Bio leather. They said this was in much demand from Germany for ladies and children's shoes.

The list of new exhibitors showed four German tanners showing through the Verband der Deutschen Lederindustrie. These were Breuninger Christ, Gerecke Leder and Hamman along with relative newcomers Weinheimer Leder, a new company with four partners which took on some of the Freudenberg production after their closure. They are concentrating on some of the classic lines such as box calf. In addition to the two financial partners, Gerd Knapp and Uwe Holubeck, managing directors, are actively involved in running the company.

There was also an American participation taking a close look at the show to see whether there is an opportunity for other US companies in the future. Current LIA chairman, Robert Schnebel of Foothills Leather is no stranger to Paris. He shares a stand with L H Nicholls of the UK who specialise in doubleface slinkskins and he hopes to entice a regular US contingent to the fair.

Opposite them, the LIA were promoting the services of the Leather Research Lab at the University of Cincinnati which is run by Dr Nicholas Cory and next door were Fox Valley Tanning who were also listed as new exhibitors.

The largest contingent of tanners (45%) came from Italy and their growing number accounted for most of the growth in this edition of the fair. There were 24 in all who joined another 101 Italian exhibitors.

France represented 24% of exhibitors and managed four new exhibitors while Spain with 14% mustered another six companies. Talking to an English agent who represents one of the Spanish tanneries revealed that the face of business is changing and smaller orders are becoming more common. This may be a way of keeping ahead of China, by keeping on top of fashion and remaining flexible but it can prove more costly as the tannery had to order a number of smaller drums to cope with customer requirements.

There were also new exhibitors from South Africa, Argentina, China, India, Switzerland and Pakistan. With so many fairs to choose from, exhibitors are looking carefully at the expenses involved and scaling down the number of shows they will support. For L H Nicholls the choice is Le Cuir A Paris in September and Lineapelle in October.

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