Nature continues to provoke and inspire ECCO’s researchers who have developed DriTan™, an innovative technology that drastically reduces the amount of water needed to tan leathers.

ECCO Leather spent five years working on the award-winning DriTan™, which allows our tanneries to operate in a more sustainable fashion. And this is only the first step.

Humans have been tanning leathers for 10,000 years, and many in the leather industry had thought it was impossible to process hides without using large amount of water. But ECCO Leather, which is revered for its inventive and innovative approach, achieved the seemingly impossible with DriTan™, which uses the moisture already present in the hides. This breakthrough was recognised at the 2019 Scandinavian Outdoor Awards, where it won a technology prize for setting “a new standard in leather tanning when it comes to water consumption.”

When used in ECCO Leather’s tannery in the Netherlands, DriTan™ saves approximately 20 litres of water per hide, while producing leather which is indistinguishable from traditionally tanned leather in terms of quality, characteristics, stability and lead-time. Using DriTan™ at that tannery alone we aim to save more than 25 million litres of water annually, which is enough to hydrate around 9,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation’s figures. At the same time, DriTan™ will reduce the amount of chemicals required in the tanning process.

ECCO Outdoor extends use of DriTan™

In its Autumn/Winter 2020 collection, ECCO Outdoor has extended its use of DriTan™, with a greater number of boots and shoes crafted from state-of-art leathers made with that technology. The DriTan™ technology is also showcased in two members of ECCO Outdoor’s highly innovative EXO family: ECCO EXOSTRIKE Progressive ECCO leathers, made with DriTan™, add to the hi-tech performance and futuristic streetstyle aesthetic. One of the pioneering materials in the group is in the midsole, with the exceptionally soft and light PHORENE™ delivering rebound and adding to your all-day comfort in the city or the wild.

ECCO EXOHIKE

Innovative leathers made with DriTan™ elevate the performance and look of the ECCO EXOHIKE, which also has PHORENE™. With its advanced materials and technologies, as well as its athletic design, the ECCO EXOHIKE brings lightweight power and performance to the trail, along with a fresh, modern aesthetic. A robust outsole is engineered from MICHELIN rubber, with an exclusive tread design that provides grip, traction and stability on any surface.