ECCO Leather once again hosted their annual creative workshop series, aptly titled "Hotshop," with the eighth installment running from June 3 to June 5. The unique concept invites participants from some of the industry's most influential brands to meet and check out the latest developments in leather-making, allowing for a very hands on and creative few days. Hotshop 8 proved to be the biggest and best in the event's history, with 60 participants coming together from all walks of the fashion and design industries. From brands with a strong heritage in leather, to fashion brands including Denham The Jeanmaker and Alexander Wang, as well as tech-performancewear designers from Arc'teryx Veilance, the melting pot of creatives made for some strong inspiration and innovation.
Guests arrived on day one and were asked to come up with a free-thinking concept and identify what it was they wanted to achieve. While the main objective was to experiment and create new leathers, the open nature of the Hotshop made it an all-round creative summit, in which some of the world's leading designers were given the freedom to experiment and innovate ahead of the curve. The truly unique portion of the workshop, however, began on day two and continued on to day three.
Once the groups came up with a concept and identified the look and feel of their product on the first day, the creatives were then shown and participated in the entire leather-making process from start to finish. Beginning at a wet skin and moving through the historic tannery, going from pre-tanned hides to embellished ready-to-use leathers, participants were given the prestigious opportunity to experience the leather-making process in its entirety.
The depth of the entire process - from concept through production, to experimentation and finally a "finished" mock-up product is a truly unique experience that few outside the inner-circle within the leather industry are privy to, making Hotshop a truly exciting and fun event. From it a huge amount of innovation is borne, with every single participant and ECCO Leather coming away from the workshop with fresh ideas and inspiration to take away with them.
Naturally we participated ourselves, and captured the experience in full in a video recap for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy the video above and head over to ECCO's website to find out more about this one-of-a-kind event.
