hell for leather

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Published: 12:00am, 12 Feb 2006

Leather, an enduring material for couches and armchairs, is turning up in unlikely places. The material, which can be treated in a variety of ways, is being used on cushions and lampshades, as well as solid surfaces such as tabletops, floors, walls - even ceilings.

'It's the most underused surfacing material,' says Greg Arnold, owner of New York-based Interior Surfaces (www.interiorsurfaces.com), which supplies and installs leather coverings for residential and commercial projects around the world. 'It can be used on all sorts of architectural elements. It's limitless.'

Arnold's recent applications have included a handrail covered in crocodile skin (bottom right) and a honey-coloured leather floor in a Macau casino.

New York-based designer Lulu de Kwiatkowski recently launched a collection of leather cushions in geometric and nature-inspired designs (top right).

The cushions, for Elite Leather in Los Angeles, were produced using a hand-printing process not dissimilar to that used for tattoos.

Ali Tayar, another New York-based designer, sells a line of leather dining tables that Amish craftsmen produce exclusively for upmarket homeware retailer Tableart (www.tartontheweb.com) in LA. The leather is from leading upholstery supplier Spinneybeck, comes in an array of colours and is teamed with what he describes as 'quintessentially North American hardwoods' - walnut, cherry and maple. They come in rectangular, oval, round and square shapes. 'The laminated surface is replaced with leather in a nod to traditional library tables,' says Tayar.