Wolverine Leathers will be the first supplier to adopt a new eco-friendly water-repellent leather jointly developed by Swiss textile technology company HeiQ and DuPont Consumer Solutions.
According to the companies, recent consumer research revealed that 49 percent of consumers value the importance of water-repellent product that’s free of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs). To meet these consumer and brand demands, HeiQ developed the HeiQ Eco Dry line of PFC-free products.
Now the collaboration with DuPont expands on this product line, with the first offering being a PFC-free water-repellent finish for leather called HeiQ DuPont ECO-LED. Wolverine World Wide will be the first to offer the treated leather to its major brand partners.
“We see many apparel items using PFC-free products,” said Suzanne Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing at Wolverine. “Consumers are now looking for this technology in other water-repellent finishes for leather. Combining our high-performance pig nubuck with HeiQ DuPont ECO-LED for leather gives us an avenue to meet consumer demands. We are eager to offer an eco-friendly water repellency on our leathers to our brand partners.”
Earlier this year, Bluesign extended its Bluefinder chemical compliance tool to the leather chemistry. Bluesign Bluefinder suggests more than 60 alternatives to PFCs so businesses can remove harmful substances from consumer products. PFCs have been linked to potential health hazards in high degrees of exposure.
HeiQ Eco Dry is a family of innovative, eco-friendly and non-PFC based repellent textile technologies that provide protection against water and water-based stains. The product range keeps textiles ecologically dry and enables them to handle wet weather conditions.
“This exciting relationship between HeiQ and DuPont focused on collaborating to create an environmentally friendly water repellent leather solution for Wolverine as a first project,” said Colin Lantz, vice president of North American Brandforce at HeiQ. “This innovative non-PFC water repellent treatment achieves the industry-leading water repellency performance that Wolverine is known for with HeiQ’s hallmark environmentally sustainable formulation.”
DuPont Consumer Solutions, a unit of DowDuPont Specialty Products, produces technology-based materials, ingredients and solutions in key markets.
Wolverine World Wide markets and licenses footwear and apparel under such brands as Merrell, Sperry, Hush Puppies, Saucony, Wolverine, Keds and Stride Rite.