A leatherworker guarding the sunset of the leather factory

Has the skin been collected?

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were more than 10 leather factories in Hong Kong, but due to market and cost issues, the leather factories moved and closed. Today, there are only two leather factories left in Hong Kong, and one of them is Rui Hing Leather Factory, which is located in Kwai Chung and has been rooted in Hong Kong for more than 30 years.

Kean, the third generation successor of Ruixing and born in the 1990s, is deeply aware of the changes in the industry. "When I was young, factories would pack lunch, and there would be two or three tables and 3 or 40 workers for dinner. In the end, there was only one table left, and the whole industry is falling even faster in recent years. Many industries use imitation leather and PU leather to replace genuine leather, and the whole world uses less leather. For example If you used to order to buy leather shoes in Japan, move some 10,000 pieces, now maybe 50 or 80 pieces to do one, dozens of using how much leather is now shrinking.

As for Hong Kong, the leather industry is more already a sunset industry. "The factory that uses large batches to produce leather bags is now zero in Hong Kong. It's the market, rent and other issues, because they are doing it to help the owners work. As for the leather factory, there are fewer and fewer customers, so we have to start switching to small batch orders;

Places need love

What drove the youngster to do so? Is it love? Or is it responsibility? Maomao really doesn't understand. But Kean replied without thinking, "It's love and responsibility! My parents have been paying in the past, and I'll think about their retirement; I'm paying now because I love them."

Of course, the more important reason is because he is poor... and wants to guard the leather factory for the rest of his life! "Growing up in a leather factory, I always have more feelings for this industry. Looking at the decline of the industry I think, if I don't do it, it will be gone. I don't want to waste what my family has been doing for so long. So why not try to get it right and move on in a different way?"

With this in mind, Kean decided to create the brand The Lederer, which not only holds leather workshops, but also sells heaps of hand-stitched material packs, material tools etc. Skin making and selling leather are all one-stop! "The original idea was that the value of the finished product of the raw material was so much; but turning it into a semi-finished product and branding it would allow more people to access our leather, thereby bringing the business back to the leather factory. And not using the name 'Rui Hing' is because I am targeting not only the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, but one day to promote the leather to Europe and the United States!"

Follow the skin to the limit

You said you like to play games with leather too, leather making isn’t actually difficult? Hey, not to mention the dirty environment, just the strong smell of dead skin reaching your nose is not so easy to stand. "Skin making is disgusting, because the raw materials are sheets of hairy and bloody cowhide, which are all taken directly from the slaughterhouse after being slaughtered. Therefore, they must be washed, depilated, and removed the fat and meat under the skin before they can be layered. Then they have to be dyed, stretched, and dried; before they can be cut, processed..."

Not to mention...it turns out that a pair of groomable hair has to do so much? "You also need to pay attention to the weather, water quality, and how to handle the leather. Like Hong Kong, the weather is humid. Buying a leather jacket and putting it in the closet for too long will get moldy. We have to control it even more. Otherwise, if the leather is not completely dry to be packaged and shipped, the whole batch of goods may be moldy! So how much water, chemicals, tanning agents, all have to be very precise, more or less 0.1%, the leather is different! As for me?

Starting a business is difficult, but keeping a business is so difficult!

Everything is too casual, of course no one gives face; but even though Kean does not casually do the skin with heart, it turns out, not everyone is willing to appreciate and give face. "Because we are made locally in Hong Kong, not produced by foreign manufacturers or brands. Many people think that foreign things are better, or buy Italian leather.

Of course this little bit of “bitterness” amounts to incentive for Kean. "Our principle must continue to insist on using cowhide from Hong Kong slaughterhouses. Firstly, you always have to slaughter cows to eat, using the skin is relatively environmentally friendly; secondly, we have been using this cow for so long, the skin effect, characteristics, are the most familiar.

“Every day there are different problems to solve, but I will try to walk out in my own way and guard the industry back in Hong Kong in this place.” How is the road ahead? No one knows. But Kean's firm eyes were telling everyone that he, would definitely keep trying.