Salone del Mobile 2016: Loewe to showcase its special leather marquetry project

Trust Jonathan Anderson to give household essentials a touch of quirk: at Salone del Mobile 2016, Loewe is set to present a set of oak furniture in unique designs infused with fragments of leather in various shapes and colours. Not your everyday, run-of-the-mill creations, the fine art of leather marquetry is employed in its making. The manual technique involves inlaying leather of different colours and shapes together to create a unique patchwork—a work of exquisite craftsmanship. 

For Loewe’s outing at Salone del Mobile this year, leather cutouts are applied onto wood surfaces of three-dimensional objects to create bold, decorative motifs that were adapted from archival prints and patterns. The leather marquetry project was partly inspired by radical design ideas fuelled by pioneering artist-critic Roger Fry and the association of artists and writers in early 20th century London known as the Bloomsbury Group. The ideas are brought to life by Loewe’s master artisans, whose precision in craftsmanship and attention to detail ensure each leather piece was cut perfectly to fit into a mosaic-like picture, producing masterful handpainted works of art.

The leather marquetry method is interpreted on six pieces of early 20th-century furniture selected by Anderson, including a large wardrobe and two Baillie Scott chairs, as well as lamps, cigar boxes, notebooks and leather pouches. Here’s a preview of what to look out for at Salone:

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