Whole-hide print idea can revolutionise upholstery leather, Bill Amberg says
Specialist London-based interior designer Bill Amberg has completed a project to develop a new collection of digitally printed hides for Moore & Giles.
Moore & Giles designs and develops collections of leather for upholstery, residential, hospitality, aviation and automotive applications. The Virginia-based company said it had paid close attention to work Mr Amberg has carried out in the past few years to “perfect the art of digital printing on leather”, going as far as establishing a dedicated division of his business, Bill Amberg Print. This involves using specialist digital printing technology to make sure the natural character and grain of leather remain intact.
Speaking about the Moore & Giles project, Bill Amberg commented: “Leather has always moved and has always changed; they reckon the first tannery was 30,000 years ago and here we are doing stuff that’s never been done with leather before.”
He said understanding the techniques and the material well was key to getting the best out of this idea. His work led him to develop a method for preparing a whole hide to “carry pattern successfully, with the same characteristics and durability as a beautiful piece of upholstery hide”. He describes this as being “most unusual” and something that will create interesting opportunities in the hands of experts.
Typical hides in the collection include full-grain bovine hides from Europe, wet-white processed and aniline finished at a partner tannery in Spain, measuring between 45 and 55 square-feet.
Mr Amberg said his partnership with Moore & Giles was just the beginning and that their achievements so far can “revolutionise upholstery in leather dramatically”.
Image: Moore & Giles.
