Leather designer Bill Amberg and a selection of all-star collaborators have been receiving widespread praise after a new collection of digitally printed hides was unveiled at last week’s London Design Festival. The six collaborators for the impressive hides were Dutch designer Marcel Wanders, British jeweler and interior designer Solange Azagury-Patridge, American textile designer Lisa Miller, American artist Matthew Day Jackson, and design studios Champalimaud and Calico Wallpaper. 

“There’s no more perfect material for displaying endless patterns than leather which endures,” Mr Wanders said of his first-time collaboration with Mr Amberg.

Examples of the artistic leather hides include Mr Wanders’ use of earthy tones and intricate patterns to evoke “sacred mathematics” (the concept of mathematical principals found in nature), while Ms Azagury-Partridge created a swath of vivid rainbow colors. 

The digitally-printed hides can be used for everything from architectural leatherwork, to wall hangings, to bespoke furniture upholstery. The debut of this collection comes a year after the launch of Bill Amberg Print, which is based in Mr Amberg’s tannery. Print was conceived to use specialised digital printing technology to impart unique and complex designs onto hides without losing the natural character and grain of the leather. 

Photo: Mr Amberg (left) and Mr Wanders in front of a piece from Leather Collection, designed by Marcel Wanders for Bill Amberg, 2019.

Credit: Courtesy of Marcel Wanders