Leather keeps accent on fashion
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, April 19, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Lighter scaling, one-armed configurations and other looks that limit leather to an important fashion detail are the hottest design themes in leather upholstery showrooms this market.
In consideration of tight living spaces and the contemporary tastes of urban young adults, several leather producers have either scaled back proportions or created more polished looks.
Canadian producers particularly, including Coja, Jaymar, Legacy Leather International and Sklar Peppler, have leaped on this trend, but domestic manufacturers such as Bradington-Young, Omnia and McKinley Leather also have gotten on board.
Coja's Urban Expressions line of seven styles in multiple SKUs and configurations is among the new assortments this market focusing on the burgeoning contemporary market. Collection highlights include Adobe, a double-pillow arm contemporary sofa outlined in saddle stitching, and Sierana, a sectional with top stitching detail.
The new line is built around stationary sectionals keyed to plush, deep seating comfort and standard American design, said Mark Parris, vice president of U.S. sales and marketing for the Canadian company.
Urban Expressions' loose cushion seating represents a departure from Coja's existing Studio line, which offers tight seats and backs on modular frames.
"Urban Expressions demands super anilines because of its rambling, huggable seating, as well as its sophisticated audience," Parris said.
Similarly, Jaymar's Metro Centric Collection centers on downscaled designs in styles that include Orlando, a lightly scaled transitional/contemporary sofa, and Foster, a transitional/traditional sofa, chair and ottoman group. Sofas retail at $1,495.
An 81-inch leather sofa from Sklar Peppler features a narrow, pencil-thin arm, yet provides seating comfort for three.
Legacy Leather is targeting young, modern, urban adults with Jasper, a two-piece angled sofa on metal legs, while McKinley Leather is offering a two-over-two track arm.
Such smaller-scaled entries as Omnia's contemporary Preakness and Bradington-Young's shapely vintage Delhomme also join the market outpouring.
Sofa Art by Nicoletti is addressing tight living spaces with a few two-piece sofas, which employ a special device that unfastens the pieces for ease in delivery and moving.
Elements, Palliser's modular seating with various spatial configurations, is adding microfiber to its original leather-only line.
Another trend is evident here this week in the plethora of one-armed sofa/chaise combinations, opening up consumers to new variations on seating regardless of size. Elite Leather, Eleganza, Michelangelo Designs, Polaris, Chateau d'Ax, Legacy Leather and Natuzzi are among those offering this high-style look.
"We have always loved creating customized sectionals," said Gabrielle Galardo, marketing manager for Elite Leather, which has Essex among its one-arm debuts. "In recent years, we've been pushing ourselves more into contemporary looks.
"They are a little edgier and more sophisticated, and these one-armed designs feed into that."
She points to the recent movie, "Down With Love," and other Mid-Century Modern design elements as the driving forces behind the retro-inspired one-armed look.
"We also have cool sectionals with a bumper ottoman to update the look of sectionals and to make them more modern and interesting," Galardo said.
Polaris' contemporary one-arm sofa/chaise combo imbues Italian artisanship with American seating comfort, while Legacy Leather is offering similar configurations with Mesa and Bravo.
Four Hands is adding the contemporary Wood-row, a clean, bench-style chaise, to its Whitmore collection, and Asian importer HomElegance also is sporting a chaise frame.
Also popping up here is leather's application as fashion trim. It's peeking out from finished corners, reminiscent of elbow patches on a college professor's tweed jacket.
Michelangelo Designs lifts its Lipari microfiber sectional with top-grain Italian leather inserts and piping, while Interline Italia combines pull-up leather and fabric-backed faux wicker on its mixed-media sectional, Relax.
Legacy Leather's Prairi partners two leathers — brindle and hair-on-hide — for a two-tone Western shirt look. It retails at $1,799.
