Leather garments fit for a royal visit
Amsterdam-based designer Mart Visser has spoken of his admiration for leather, saying the qualities of the raw materials he works with often provide him with inspiration for the products he goes on to create.
This was exactly the experience he had in 2021 during a project involving leather produced using the Smit & Zoon Group’s Zeology tanning system. This led to a set of chrome-free leather and suede samples in white and off-white that the Dutch designer found very attractive.
“The samples were on the floor,” Mr Visser has said, recounting his experience of the project, “and when I saw them, I thought we could mix the different materials together.” He liked the contrast in weight and flexibility in the different pieces and says this was how the material came to lead the design he worked on.
What he produced was a long leather coat made from pieces in different tones of white. In addition, the piece he used for the lower part of the coat had what he called “a slightly lighter feel”, giving an elegant floating effect when the wearer moves.
He was pleased with the coat and, on finding enough leather left over, decided to make a pair of trousers in one of the off-white shades to complement it, “and the outfit was there”.
This outfit had a stellar first public showing. When Queen Máxima of the Netherlands went to Smit & Zoon’s headquarters in Weesp at the end of May to mark the leather chemicals group’s 200th anniversary, global director of marketing and communication, Danielle Koenen, hosted part of the visit. For the occasion, Ms Koenen wore the leather trousers and long leather coat that Mart Visser had created and she was able to share with the royal visitor why the garments were so special.
For Mr Visser, refinements that have come into the use of leather in garment design in recent years have been interesting. He particularly likes the thinness tanners are able to achieve now using up-to-date splitting and shaving technology. Adding stretch fabric as a backing to enhance the natural stretch of material such as lambskin is something else that appeals to him. He describes these as interesting new steps with an age-old material.
In his reflection on the Zeology project, he drew a comparison with synthetic materials, which he has used in some of his ready-to-wear collections. Customers liked the look and the stretch but frequently fed back that the garments lacked breathability and often felt too warm.
“The comments we receive about garments made from leather are always positive,” he said. “Customers say these are beautiful timeless pieces and that they will wear them for years to come. With the whole circular thing that’s going on everywhere, true quality and real raw materials will always survive.”
Image shows Queen Máxima of the Netherlands on the left and Danielle Koenen on the right.
Credit: Twycer.
