Ah, I remember it well

By Shelagh Davy Iain Howie was the editor of ‘Leather International’ in 1984.  He attended the inaugural Hong Kong Leather Fair that year.   I attended my first APLF in 1987 when the fair was divided between the multi storey car park and the red brick China Resources building. It was only my second business trip to Hong Kong.  While I was at the show I received the news that I was to be appointed editor so, for me, the APLF has always had a certain significance.   In 1984 the leather business in South East Asia was just opening up, although South Korea and Taiwan had been very active for some time. They were later to lose ground as manufacturing moved on to cheaper labour cost countries, something which is still occurring.   Before APLF there had been a leather exhibition in Singapore but that died through lack of interest. The Hong Kong fair was another matter. Despite there not being a large enough venue for the event, the organisers showed a great deal of initiative by commandeering a multi storey car park. This did not find favour with everyone but fortunately for all concerned plans for the new Exhibition and Convention Centre soon appeared on the horizon and after a few years the multiple stories were returned to the cars.   In 1984, the UK and Europe still had a vibrant leather sector.  This was some years before globalisation began to nibble away at the foundations of the western leather trade although one of the most contentious topics at the time was the protectionism being shown by Japan to its domestic industry. (However, this did not prevent the ICT holding their annual meeting in Kyoto in 1989).   I have seen the starting up, and the closing down, of several international exhibitions. One of my favourites was the Pan American Leather Fair (PAL) which first took place in 1996. I couldn’t believe my luck, having to stay on Ocean Drive and twice being able to attend the Art Deco festival there. Oh what a joyous time. Not everything was wonderful, however, as the fair was unable to sustain commercial viability and towards the end I remember ‘Salty’, the late Vance Smith III of Salem Oil & Grease, telling me that he was considering moving production offshore because he thought the US industry would be virtually dead inside five years. He then modified that to suggest perhaps a very few of the strongest would survive. How right he was. A I Topper & Co Pty Ltd ACME Electronic Machine Co Ltd Ascot Conceria Spa Australian Hide Skin & Leather Exporters Association Ltd Bergi SpA Chun Wang Brothers Co Ltd Emag Ltd Hides & Skins Federation Francaise del la Tannerie Megisserie   During the past 25 years we have seen the boom and bust of a number of industries. While China continued to grow throughout the period it suffered a set-back in 2008 when the government clamped down on all polluting industries to make way for the Olympic Games. There is still some uncertainty about the future since the whole world has been thrown into economic turmoil due to the crash in the American banking system, closely followed by Iceland and the UK.   I have witnessed the emergence of a strong and vital leather industry in Turkey, which came from nowhere to prominence, only to be decimated when the Russian rouble collapsed. Heavily reliant on the Russian market, there was nowhere to go. One year later they were hit also by a series of devastating earthquakes.    Felix Berger AG   Heusch GmbH & Co KG Hiriar Andre Sarl Hong Kong Hide and Leather Traders Association  International Council of Hides Skins & Leather Traders Association   Lamebo Srl In their heyday they did everything right. They knocked down their old tanning areas which were sited within their various cities and relocated to modern tannery zones complete with effluent treatment plants which they modelled on the Italian cluster principle.   When, back in 1987, I took over as editor of ‘Leather International’, I began to attend the various shows and conferences in far flung places myself. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to travel so widely and meet such interesting people and visit so many different sights and cultures.   Shelagh Davy retired as editor of ‘Leather International’ earlier this year.  She was a familiar figure at APLF (and elsewhere).  She will be missed.   Leather Industries of America Leather International Magazine Mapel & C Srl Mostardini Om Srl Packer Leather Pty Ltd R Y Gaitonde & Company Tannerie R Carriat Tanneries Nouvelles Pechdo UNIC Italian Tanners Association   ‘Ah, I Remember It Well’, is an occasional, but we hope quite frequent, column from those in the leather industry who have ‘Been there – Done that – ’.   If you have indeed, Been there – Done that – Attended the early APLF fairs, we would like to hear from you – please. About 500 words, with your comments and views of those days and, if you have any - photographs.   If you wish to contribute to the APLF News, with your experiences in the industry, your observations, or general thoughts on the direction the industry is going, we would like to hear from you. Email: aplf-news@aplf.com