Leather
Leather is made from animal hide or skins, and is valued for its strength, longevity, and elasticity. To make leather, the hide, or animal skin, undergoes stages of chemical processes to clean, soften, tan, dye, stretch, dry, and finish the hide.
You can read more about our approach to animal welfare in the PVH Animal Welfare Policy.
The more sustainable leather mentioned on our hangtags is one of the types below:
Leather Working Group provides environmental stewardship audits for leather tanneries to assess how leather is manufactured and what inputs are used during processing. Leather Working Group rated facilities have demonstrated higher performance in their leather manufacturing facilities.
Tommy Hilfiger is a member of Leather Working Group and requires any product labeled with Leather Working Group (LWG) to source its leather from a facility audited by Leather Working Group.
Recycled leather is a material that repurposes traditional leather for reuse by using existing leather to form new products and redirect leather away from waste streams.
Recycled leather is reused leather that maintains its original structure. This can include cutting post-consumer leather into a new shape for a new product.
Tommy Hilfiger requires recycled materials to have Global Recycled Standard (GRS) or Recycled Content Standard (RCS) certification.
Recycled leather fibers are made from materials using recycled traditional leather by using existing leather to form new products and redirect leather away from waste streams.
Recycled leather fiber is structurally different from leather and recycled leather, as it is made from leather scraps attached to a backing to form a new material that is structurally different from leather.
Tommy Hilfiger requires recycled materials to have Global Recycled Standard (GRS) or Recycled Content Standard (RCS) certification.
Chrome-Free Tanned Leather is leather that has been tanned without the use of chrome.
At a tannery, the hides undergo a tanning process to turn them into leather. Historically, natural resources were used, like the bark of certain trees. In the 1800s, chromium tanning was developed and allowed for a much faster process that uses leather tanning agents including chrome in their formulations. This process has an increased chemical risk when not managed properly. Although chrome-free tanned leather is a slower process, the chemical risk from using chrome is eliminated.
To verify Chrome-Free Tanned Leather a chemical test confirms that specific heavy metals and other chemicals used in conventional leather tanning were not used during the chrome-free tanning process.
Tommy Hilfiger requires chrome free leather to have an ICP Heavy Metals Screening Test (RSL Report) to verify the absence of chrome.
Vegetable tanned leather is leather that has been tanned with plant-based tannins (dyes/colorants) such as bark and leaves to color the leather hides.
Plant-based tannins replace some of the chemicals, like acidic salts, that are used in conventional leather processing. This results in a final product that uses fewer chemicals compared to standard chemical leather processing.
Vegetable Tanned Leather is verified through a chemical test that confirms specific heavy metals and other chemicals used in conventional leather tanning were not used during the vegetable tanning process.
Tommy Hilfiger requires vegetable tanned leather to have an ICP Heavy Metals Screening Test (RSL Report) to verify the absence of heavy metals.