kookaburra1701

I think they were talking about the people who produce the leather that the workers in the Brooks factory use. Tanneries are notoriously noxious and deleterious to the environment, many are located in Pakistan where it's easy for the money to end up supporting terrorist organizations. (Though they do prefer the opium and gem trade.) It can be really difficult to get leather at commercial quantities from anywhere in Europe because of the labor and environmental protections. Even when people are willing to pay a premium it's hard - I worked in materials sourcing for company that produced handbags, and quite often leather that was LEGALLY considered to be produced in Italy or France was actually from Pakistan/India/somewhere else with no worker/environmental guidelines.

Of course, the process for producing synthetic materials uses fossil fuels, is also environmentally harmful, and the end products do not biodegrade, and the money goes to multinational corporations who use it to further their own short-term interests at the expense of the health of the earth and private citizens. So pick your poison.