The sneakers marketed by the Pantuna House are not sneakers like the others. They are elegant, not flashy and timeless. But that’s not all. These new kind of sneakers are made… with tuna leather.
Hervé and Benoît Barba, at the head of a family business importing and exporting seafood products, in Béziers (Hérault), pained to throw away mountains of fish skins, had the idea of promoting them in a particular way. Because in the Barba group, we have always tried, out of “professional conscience”, explains Hervé Barba, to avoid putting marine waste in the trash. By selling them to make animal feed, for example. But to make it a fashion accessory, it’s the first time. “We took on this challenge! “, continues Hervé Barba. With this funny idea in mind, the two entrepreneurs met, a few years ago, François Roques, from the tannery La Molière, a tannery in the Tarn, renowned for the transformation of small skins into leather.
“The scales chemically removed”
For months and months, the Tarn tanner worked tirelessly to succeed in turning this skin into leather. “For two years, he didn’t want to charge me for research and development,” says Hervé Barba. He said, “Don’t worry, let me get to it first.” So as I like healthy relationships in commerce, I said to him: “Listen, if you succeed, we will join forces to sell the finished products”. »
And François Roques has succeeded. A first. For a tuna skin, the “process is about the same as for a sheepskin, for example, explains François Roques. The difference is that there are scales. We have to remove them. We therefore remove a first skin, above the scales, before removing them, chemically. François Roques then performs traditional tanning. But Maison Pantuna wanted it to be eco-responsible. Anything removed can be composted.
And to those worried that their sneakers smell like fish, that’s not the case at all. There is “no smell”, explains Hervé Barba. Apart from the traditional leather smell. “Goat leather doesn’t smell like goatskin”, continues François Roques. Cowhide doesn’t smell like cowhide. It’s the same with tuna leather. In Portugal, where the Maison Pantuna sneakers are made, leathers other than tuna, in particular lamb and calfskin, are however used to create these rather special shoes. On the models, on the brand’s online store, they are sold between 155 and 205 euros. And it is possible that the Hérault company will soon use other fish skins to launch a new fashion collection.