Legacy Ranches, Artisan Leather & Zero Waste

LEATHER FOR STRENGTH, BEAUTY AND ETHICS

From 2008-2010, I documented the history of tanneries in the US as a business case and prototyped a full production cycle of sustainable leather, from the ranch to the hands of furniture designers and to-the-trade upholsterers in New York City. I used hides from White Oak Pastures, a legacy ranch and regenerative farm in Bluffton, GA and processed them in partnership with several North American family tanneries.

Located in America's shadow cowboy country of southwestern Georgia, White Oak Pastures is the South's most biodiverse regenerative farm. It is also a multi-species ranch with two pioneering, Certified Humane, on-farm abattoirs designed by Dr. Temple Grandin. Having raised cattle for 150 years, White Oak Pastures' owner, Will Harris, entered the 21st century returning to their 19th century roots by de-industrializing, de-commoditizing, and de-centralizing their operations. 

Will and I developed relationships with American vegetable-based tanneries and we built on our prior projects with the American Grassfed Association and my relationships with numerous textile and furniture designers to experiment with establishing a wholesale business for the hides of White Oak’s sustainably raised cattle.

I identified and secured opportunities to sustainably tan and, importantly, market these non-commodity hides which were distinctively and naturally marked from a lifetime of pasturing. Will supported me and the ranch with his inimitable faith, smarts, courage, generosity and cowboy badassery.

We established a market for this leather in the design, food and tourism world (drop all the mics) and I oversaw several tannery trials to begin the process — at scale — of segregating these hides during the vegetable tanning process which his a critical piece of establishing a sustainable supply chain.

The Harris family went on to open their own farm store and atelier, hire leather designers and produce a custom line of bags and accessories. They’re gorgeous and have integrity. Get you some!