Key Dates

29 May -Launch Deadline
28 Aug -Standard
27 Nov -Late Deadline
26 Dec -Judging
07 Jan 2026 -Winners Announced
Wednesday, 19 November 2025 07:05 local time

Hand-Textured Leather [DRAFT]

Guangzhou Bampo Brand Management Co., LTD | Fashion - Textiles & Materials - International


 
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Project Overview

Taking inspiration from the distinctive texture of Dong Cloth (Dong Cloth craftsmanship is an intangible cultural heritage of the Dong ethnic group in Guizhou), the design team has innovatively developed a unique material: hand-crumpled Dong Cloth-grain leather. Using an exclusive hand-crumpling technique—perfected through over a thousand refinements—the design team faithfully recreated the cloth’s iconic irregular, natural texture on leather. This not only serves as a modern homage to the intangible cultural heritage of the Dong ethnic group, transforming its traditional visual language into a contemporary fashion symbol, but also sets a new benchmark for the inheritance and innovative reinterpretation of ethnic culture.

Organisation

Guangzhou Bampo Brand Management Co., LTD

Team

BAMPO GROUP Culture Lang Huang

Project Brief

Confronting the limitations of industrial leather—typically characterized by a lack of textural variation and cultural depth—the design team draws from traditional Dong Cloth and uses full-grain Irish calf grain leather as its material. The leather’s naturally warm, soft sheen echoes the signature sheen of Dong Cloth. Though repeated hand crumpling, the design team recreates the distinctive irregular grain of Dong Cloth on leather, breaking through the homogenization of industrial leather and infusing the leather with cultural depth and a distinctive visual identity.

Project Innovation/Need

Craftsmanship Innovation: Breaking away from conventional mechanical embossing, the design team pioneered a hand-crumpling technique—perfected through over a thousand refinements—to replicate the natural texture of Dong Cloth on full-grain Irish calf grain leather.

One-of-a-kind Creases: Each hide undergoes hundreds of hand crumpling, producing one-of-a-kind creases that shatter the sameness of industrial leather.

Innate Quality: Through purely physical processing, the method preserves the leather’s inherent suppleness, water resistance, and delicately smooth touch.
Aesthetic Reinterpretation: By embedding Dong Cloth’s natural creases into modern leather goods, the design reinterprets intangible heritage in a contemporary context, establishing a distinctive cultural symbol.

Design Challenge

The project faced two main challenges. First, traditional Dong Cloth making techniques cannot be directly applied to leather, making the recreation of its natural grain a key obstacle. Second, the inherent randomness of handcrafting makes quality control in large-scale production a major challenge. To tackle these challenges, the design team developed an innovative hand-crumpling technique to generate natural, dynamic textures close to that of Dong Cloth. By collaborating with skilled artisans with over ten years of experience and establishing a standardized hand-crumpling process, the design team successfully preserved the craft’s uniqueness while achieving consistent quality and reliable production.

Sustainability

The project offers a new pathway for modernizing and bringing intangible cultural heritage, Dong Cloth craftsmanship, to the market, helping the craft continue to thrive in contemporary contexts. By using natural leather and mainly physical processing methods such as hand crumpling, it greatly reduces chemical usage and environmental impact. The adoption of manual production also lowers energy consumption, while providing skilled artisans with meaningful jobs and cultural recognition, fostering a synergistic development of cultural preservation and eco-friendly practices.


Fashion - Textiles & Materials - International

Exemplary textiles and materials that have low consumed energy, low water use and low waste - aka Eco-Textiles. Over the coming 3 years we'll be furthering our Eco-Textile standards - be part of the evolving standard by nominating your innovations.
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