If you watched the fall/winter 2012 collections over the last few months, you couldn’t have missed the super-prominent role that leather played. Black leather especially. It made up the collections’ best skirts, pants, dresses, and even jumpsuits.

On one hand it gave me pause; the treatment processes for leathers are really toxic, and then there’s the matter of all those hide-less animals… As I watched the collections in New York, Paris, London, and Milan, I had to wonder if anyone is thinking about sustainability and low-impact anymore. On the other hand, I can’t deny the power and beauty of a supple, curve-hugging leather pants. It’s a conundrum.

Count local—by way of Academy of Art University in SF and an internship with Michael Kors’ women’s line in New York—designer J’Amy Tarr among those who can’t resist the material. She just released images of her fall ’12 collection and leather figures-in big time.

Click through the slideshow here to see the Seattleite’s take on the next season, and to find out more about her design approach and retail goals.