In praise of older leather furniture
A recent Financial Times feature on furniture provided plenty of praise for leather, but also some potentially controversial criticism of the modern leather industry.
The newspaper compiled comments from previous interviews with influential people across the world of business, fashion design and architecture to compile details of their favourite sofas and chairs.
Those declaring their love for leather upholstery included Mandy Madden Kelley, founder of Pagerie, a high-end accessories brand for pets, and property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Fashion designer Pierre Mahéo said he loved the patina on the old leather cushions on some brutalist Dutch chairs he owns, while architect Frida Escobedo said she had long coveted, and recently acquired, a Knoll Brigadier leather sofa by Italian designer Cini Boeri.
However, while Japanese clothing and footwear designer Hiroki Nakamura also declared his love of leather furniture, his comments also included words of warning for the leather industry of the 2020s.
Mr Nakamura found two club chairs, probably from the 1930s, at a flea market at Clignancourt in Paris and had them shipped all the way to his home in Tokyo.
He told the FT that he loved the chairs because they still had their original cognac-coloured leather upholstery, albeit with many scuffs and cracks. “They are kind of worn out,” he told the newspaper, “but I like how they look. Usually people reupholster club chairs, but modern leather doesn’t age as well as old leather, because they produce it differently now.”
