Welcome to the next instalment in our Leather feature
Only the best remain pure…
the rest are coloured, buffed then embossed to produce a consistent look and feel.
It’s time to upweight your leather knowledge and most importantly your sampling.
Over the next few weeks we are providing a short educational burst on leather and all its nuances, the stunning Decor Design leather ranges and answer any critical questions you may have re leather and all its mysteries.
Decor Design Leather is a meticulously crafted leather range manufactured in Northern Italy, the home of upholstery leather and stocked locally in Perth, WA. It has been used extensively across the Australian and New Zealand commercial landscape from the Qantas lounges, Crown and Star Casinos, Merivale, Solotel hospitality groups, Westfield shopping centres, and across many top end furniture manufacturers and retailers.
All our leather samples are now in the new ‘D’ format.
How is modern leather made?
1. Preparation and Stabilising
Raw hides are tanned in drums using chromium which leaves the leather a pale blue colour, commonly referred to as wet blue.
2. Crusting
The hide is thinned-split, re-tanned, lubricated and coloured.
3. Surface Coating
The hides are then coated using oils, waxes, pads, sprays, polishes and embossing plates if needed!
The average thickness of a cowhide is 5mm which is then refined into the Top Grain and Split. Finished leather measures anywhere between 0.9-1.4mm thick.
How much of the hide is used?
All elements of the hide are used to make upholstery leather. The top grain is used to produce natural, corrected grain and pigmented leathers including Nubuck. The split is used to produce corrected grain and pigmented leathers including Suede. The hide in its natural shape is then ready for shipping in its various forms: Aniline, Semi-aniline, Corrected Grain, Pigmented etc… We will talk more about these terms in the next edition.
Note: Leather is priced by the sqm but sold in hides. Hides measuring, say 4.8sqm are not ‘square’. The measure includes all elements of the hide and hence will include wastage.
Range highlight: Aria
Aria is a semi aniline leather
Characterised by its sumptuous handle and strikingly smooth finish. The distinctive finish of ARIA is achieved by drying the hides under vacuum as part of the tanning process. This rapid removal of moisture creates a leather with luxurious body and structure, and an elegant almost ‘grainless’ look.
Aria is classed as a semi-aniline leather as it retains all the natural characteristics of the hide through an enhanced aniline dye treatment to ensure a consistent hide colour (more on this later).
Key Facts
Leather type: Semi-Aniline
Produced on European hides using water based dyes.
Made in Northern Italy
Extensive colour palette 16 colorways
Av hide size 4.8-5.0 sqm
Thickness 1.0-1.2mm
Produced by an ISO 14000 certified company
ISO 9001 quality certification.
Stocked locally for immediate despatch ex Perth.
Why Decor Design Leather?
The ranges are hand picked
Leather comes in all shapes, styles and finishes. We select the most suitable (style, finish, colour) Northern Italian leather for Australian and New Zealand markets.
Backed with exceptional service and over 40 years of expertise/technical support
Leather is a unique product, some would say still shrouded in mystery! It requires generational expertise to understand, select and specify. We understand how it works, its needs and its limitations and will work with you through every step of the journey.
Locally stocked for rapid turnaround
Many leather projects require quick delivery. We stock locally in Perth for immediate shipping on a 2-3 day lead time anywhere in Australia and 1 week to New Zealand.
Priced for value
Sourcing direct from Northern Italian tanneries in bulk provides an exceptional price/value equation on a superb quality leather range.
Hume is the only company licensed to sell these products on the East Coast of Australia and in New Zealand.
Explore the full range of stocked Decor Design Leather ranges
Leather… the natural choice.