I visited several places and my main personal and business goal was to clarify, confirm and compare that my people are working in ethical conditions and are aware of the environmental impact. As i mentioned above Magetan area is known and famous for tanners of all kinds. I am mainly doing vegetable tanned leather due to its lower impact on our nature and even that is not perfect as I found out, but we can minimize bad outcome for the environment when we choose the right people to work with. Continue reading to find out more about the leather situation, but first what actually veg. tan. leather is?

What is vegetable tanned leather (veg. tan. leather)?

Tanning is a processing animal skin to make leather by using chemicals or plant based liquid. Vegetable is the specifying the tanning process. Vegetable tanned means that during the process they use water with acacia bark instead of chemicals. The most popular chemical process is using chromium, which is used mostly in the world due to its effectiveness and price to make it.

Fun fact: You can sometimes see written in the description veg. tan. leather – it has nothing to do with color tan, it is short for “tanned”.

Ethical working condition for people? Confirmed.

I visited small and big tanneries and even though they differentiate with its size and process, which i will describe later, they have a common view how to treat people. They all provide gloves and boots, which is the minimum their workers need to protect themselves from the liquids, putty, tools and leather. You will not see people working with their bare hands or bare feet like in other tanneries in developing countries in Asia or Africa. This is a great achievement for people working in these conditions as their health matters and I am glad my first requirement is confirmed with my leather supplier in Magetan.

Pollution and sustainability. Confirmed and sorted!

I always minimize my impact on our environment and therefore I was looking at the process and each part of the process of some tanneries. What I found out is disappointing and it also includes other people and brands, who talk about sustainability and Eco-friendly products and while they talk about it they have no idea how their materials are actually made. Luckily there are still responsible people and I can work with tanners, who actually care about the regulations and environment with proper filter.

Issue with polluted river

Most of the tanneries have the same or similar process and you can read about the whole process below as it includes cleaning the hides, cutting the hides and dehydrating. Where it is not same is the final liquid waste and where it goes. Some tanneries put the processed water back to the river and they don’t care about its damage. Nobody wants to have smelly and unhealthy rivers.

As Indonesian person I can go around and get the information I need and can see what happens with my own eyes. Unfortunately there are people, who are extremely irresponsible for the environment for whatever reason they have. Luckily not all people are like that and I found tanneries, who work as a community and share the filter system together. I would like to emphasize and urge all people to check on their leather suppliers on what they do with the polluted water and how they treat it.

Responsible suppliers. Filter the liquid waste!

There are many suppliers and makers, who care for other people in the area and are responsible with their work. We just need to find them and work with them. Usually they will work as a community or it is a big tannery as the filter installation is expensive and one small tannery just cannot afford it.

The responsibility goes especially to the chromium( and other chemicals) based tanneries, which definitely need to have protective gloves and boots at least and filtering process for waste management.

I want to be responsible for my products and that’s why I went to explore the options and see it in person rather than just saying – yes we use vegetable tanned leather we are Eco-friendly. I want my customers to know that we can do better and we do.

Tanning process

The bigger factories process the leather same way as small home tanneries.
1. Mix the raw hide with lime and give it a spin in the huge barrels known as lime bath. This will clean hide from all parts like hair.
2. Put each hide through a press looking machines, which will clean the hide from last pieces of meat and leftovers.
3. Bath the leather in acacia bark for few weeks or months in few simple The leftover kind of muddy and fatty part is dried out on the sun. After few weeks it becomes a soil and can be used as a building material.

Fun fact: There is no major damage done to the acacia tree itself. Workers just take the bark from the tree and that bark re-grows back in 2-3 months. There is no need for destroying the trees or forest.

Conclusion

WildIndo is not just a fashion brand. WildIndo and I stand for well made products, ethical work and environment. All these parts are very important to me and I think it should be important to everyone. If you purchase any leather product, you should know from where and how it is produced that you do not accidentally and indirectly damage world’s nature. I am bit sad as I found out that vegetable tanned leather does not necessarily mean Eco-friendly. At the end it depends on each tanner and supplier how responsible they are and you have the power in choosing your brand and right business partner. The same way I check on my partners and the process.

Interested in rattan products instead of leather? Second part of my Java trip was concentrated on my rattan maker in Jepara area.

The post Java part 1: Magetan tanners and sustainability question appeared first on Wildindo.

We like that the resorts also care about Indonesian artisans and products from Indonesia. There are only the best products from all around in Indonesia in the boutique of The Apurva Kempinski. You will be amazed about all the different kinds of crafts and accessories. Although it is not limited to only women accessories as we saw chocolate and home ware as well.

We are proud to be part of their portfolio and we are so happy about these contacts and people, who want to work with us. We wanted to finish our mini-series about the partnerships in high standard and we have a few new amazing places to add later, but for now this is set in high and positive vibe and we are going for that bright future we dreamed of for months.

Thank you all for your support and lets us know when you see our bags and other accessories there. Let us know what you would like to add or change. Let us know anything you want as you are part of what we are now.

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We are constantly questioned if we can deliver bags or have some other locations around Bali. We try to help our customers as much as we can, but appearing in Seminyak and Legian is a great solution for all.

You can find us in The Seminyak Beach Resort and Spa, Jl. Kayu Aya, Pantai Seminyak and also check us at Salila Spa inside Away Bali Legian Camakila Jl. Padma Utara, Legian.

Let us know when you visit those places and how you like it. We would appreciate your feedback and thoughts.

Find the map and contact here.

The post Find our Wildindo display in Seminyak area appeared first on Wildindo.

We are also pleased and impressed by iOCO’s business building as that’s what we are trying to achieve in WildIndo too. iOCO already accomplished one building where there is a space for production, designers, office and beautiful store we are now part of.

Find the map and other locations here.

The post iOCO partner display in Kuta appeared first on Wildindo.

Asking how our products are traditional? It is not only about the products, our products are modern and designed well. Our tradition is part of our people, artisans and craftsmen, who are behind each item. The tradition of passing skills from generation to generation and spending hours and days making those lovely and unique pieces.

Puri Wulandari is more culture oriented tradition and their people are exceptional. Their boutique and restaurant is accessible for public and we would recommend to go there to enjoy peaceful afternoon and views of the canyon.

Find the map and other locations here.

The post Looking for our shop in Ubud? We moved to a way nicer place. appeared first on Wildindo.

As in any business there are challenges to overcome. One of the first challenges for Friska, was to find a reliable tailors as the quality was not enough and timeline was never close to what was promised. Throughout the years she found few tailors and artisans, who now work with her directly in-house and externally. The quality is right where it should be and timeline is accomplished accordingly. Our tailors now can help you make your own clutch in our workshops in Bali.

Although quality of products improved over the years, she has never searched for her clients. They all came to her and made custom bags or wholesale order. That was actually nice to realize after running a business for 3 years without realizing other businesses are actually searching for new clients. That’s just a proof that the designs and products are great. And yes we start looking for new clients as well, because we want brands and people to understand that handmade products are worthy. We are mainly talking about Wildindo and few other brands who really care about their people, high quality products and life in developing countries.

People, location, bags, jewelry, designs and strategy have a common thing. Constant changes. It is part of any life and in Wildindo we deal with changes almost every week. One of the recent major change was take apart our Bamboo shop due to increased prices of the land rental. Bali is still growing and sometimes prices get crazy. It was a very nostalgic moment for Friska as it was the beginning of WildIndo. Even though there is not much connection to the bamboo shop anymore, it was still the start of our journey.

What Wildindo plans in future?

Friska’s need and what makes her happy is to continue working on new designs. There are bags and sandals, but also upcoming jewelry and home ware. Sustainable living will be one of our main parts. We are also partnering up with luxurious modern and traditional hotels, who appreciate handmade quality products. We want to stand for high quality and well designed products and as an ethical brand. We will be updating you soon on our blog about upcoming news.

Thank you all for supporting us and buying beautiful handmade products from ethical brands.

The post Our three year fashion and handmade journey continues appeared first on Wildindo.