title: “Global Leather Alliance Launches at Lineapelle to Unite the Industry” seo_description: “The Global Leather Alliance, a Belgian non-profit, launched at Lineapelle in Milan on 15 September 2026 to fund and coordinate industry initiatives defending real leather worldwide.” seo_tags: [“Global Leather Alliance”, “real leather”, “Lineapelle”, “COTANCE”, “leather industry”, “sustainability”] seo_slug: “global-leather-alliance-launches-lineapelle” source_url: “https://leathernews.org/global-leather-alliance-launches/”

Global Leather Alliance Launches at Lineapelle to Unite the Industry

The Global Leather Alliance (GLA) was launched on 15 September 2026 during Lineapelle in Milan as an independent, global non-profit organisation created to unite and mobilise the leather industry around a shared mission to protect, promote and advance real leather through engagement, education, collaboration and science-based communications.

Structured as a Belgian AISBL — an international non-profit association built, in its words, “for the industry, by the industry” — the GLA will serve as a transparent funding and coordination hub, directing resources toward initiatives that strengthen the reputation, sustainability and long-term future of real leather. It plans to focus on four areas: Unite, Fund, Empower and Protect.

The alliance is explicit that it is not intended to replace existing leather associations. Instead, it aims to connect organisations already working across the industry and provide a platform to address challenges that cross national borders — including consumer perception, misinformation and global outreach. It will be supported through industry participation, membership and other funding mechanisms, and intends to use membership funding to apply for larger public and private grants and scale its work strategically.

Leadership reflects a cross-section of the sector. Marc Smit, CEO of ROYAL SMIT & ZOON, is Chair, while Randy Johnson, President and CEO of PANGEA, serves as Vice-Chair. Jim Deheer is Executive Director and Katie Kutskill is Governance & Strategic Advisor. Founding members include JBS Couros, PANGEA, SMIT & ZOON, TFL, AI TOPPER, HOWE, ISA Nextgenmaterials and MUNO.

“The leather industry does not need another organization competing for attention. It needs one capable of bringing people together,” Deheer said on LinkedIn. The GLA describes its vision as becoming a “collagen fibre network” for the global leather industry — strengthening regional organisations, supporting existing initiatives and helping bring new ideas to a wider scale, all built around integrity, transparency, collaboration and long-term sustainability.

The launch comes at a moment when the leather sector is simultaneously battling misinformation about its environmental footprint and celebrating a major regulatory win — the formal exclusion of hides, skins and leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation. For an industry long fragmented across national and product associations, the GLA represents a concerted attempt to speak and act with one voice on the issues that matter most.

Source: Leather News (leathernews.org).